Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 8 March 2022
149. Deputy Eoin Ó Broin asked the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications the progress of the Energy Charter Treaty modernisation process; and if there is no progress on its modernisation his views on the timeframe by which he will pursue exit from the treaty [12725/22]
View answerIn 2017, the Energy Charter Conference decided to modernise the treaty in order to respond to the demands of member countries that find it obsolete with regard to current investment agreements. EU governments and the European Commission are negotiating an update to the ECT’s terms, but the talks have been slow and complex amid difficulties finding common agreement among the charter’s members. In September 2021, the Court of Justice of the European Union held that EU climate polluters could not use the arbitration system under the Energy Charter Treaty (ECT) to claim compensation in disputes between member states.Ireland's position remains to support the European Commission's efforts to negotiate meaningful reform of the treaty in the first instance, while reserving the option to support a co-ordinated withdrawal should these efforts fail and if considered appropriate by Government to achieve our national renewable energy and climate ambitions.
