The detractors of this international agreement, accused of “protecting polluters”, are now hoping for a coordinated withdrawal from all European countries.
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Does France’s decision sign the start of the end of the Treaty on the Energy Charter (TCE)? In the wake of other European countries, Paris announced, Friday, October 21, withdrawing from this controversial agreement, concluded thirty years ago and accused of “protecting polluters”. “I watch with concern to return to the most polluting hydrocarbons and fossil fuels, explained Emmanuel Macron from Brussels, where he participated in a European summit. War on European soil should not make us forget our climatic requirements and our imperative as Reduction of our CO₂ emissions. The fact of withdrawing from this treaty is an element of this strategy. “
The Energy Charter Treaty, ratified by around fifty countries and the European Union (EU), was born at the end of the Cold War, in 1994, to protect investors in the energy sector: It allows them to request, before an arbitral tribunal, compensation to a state whose decisions could affect the profitability of their investments. Since then, many legal actions have been launched by companies or investment funds following regulatory or legislative changes.
In February 2021 for example, the German multinational RWE announced to continue the Netherlands due to their choice to leave coal by 2030. At the beginning of September, Italy was condemned to pay at least 180 million euros to the British oil company Rockhopper for having refused an offshore drilling permit. For the first time, France was also attacked in early September, this time by the German producer of renewable energies Fravulated AG, after the government’s decision to revise down the purchase prices of photovoltaic electricity. In total, at least 146 disputes linked to the TCE were identified.
“Domino effect”
“The TCE fully embodies these rules and institutions of globalization of the 1990s and 2000s which delay, increase or block the energy transition, estimates Maxime Combes, economist within the International Association of Technicians, Experts and Researchers (Aitec ). It authorizes investors to pursue states which decide to stop coal -fired power plants or more finely control the support for renewable energies, which they need to do. “
If the detractors of this treaty, mobilized for several years, largely salute the decision of France, they hope that it will have a training effect to lead to a coordinated withdrawal from all European countries. In 2015, Italy was released from the agreement unilaterally. Since then, the context has evolved. While a revised version of the TCE must be submitted for approval to signatory countries at the end of November, Spain, targeted by around fifty complaints, announced on October 12 that it withdrew.
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