France withdraws from the Energy Charter Treaty, Emmanuel Macron announces in Brussels – France Bleu

President Emmanuel Macron announced this Friday, October 21, at the end of the European summit in Brussels, France’s withdrawal from the Energy Charter Treaty, ratified in 1994. and focus our investments on: going faster on renewables, going faster on energy efficiency, going faster on nuclear”, explained the Head of State. This withdrawal comes the day after the publication of an opinion by the High Council for the Climate which called on the government to withdraw from this treaty. This convention, much criticized by climate activists, aimed to secure the supply of fossil fuels to Western Europe. France Bleu explains what this little-known treaty consists of and why it is singled out by environmental protection associations and NGOs. What is this treaty?The Energy Charter Treaty (ECT) was signed in 1994, at the end of the Cold War, to provide guarantees to investors in Eastern European countries and the former USSR. This agreement aimed to secure the supply of fossil fuels to Western Europe. Bringing together the European Union and 52 countries (from Europe, Central Asia, but also Turkey and Australia), it allows companies to claim compensation from a State before a private arbitration tribunal. whose decisions affect the profitability of their investments, even when it comes to pro-climate policies. There are 146 known disputes linked to the ECT, two-thirds intra-European, and the compensation granted exceeds 42 billion euros, according to Yamina Saheb, contributing economist to the IPCC report (UN climate experts). most emblematic cases took place in the Netherlands. After the adoption of a Dutch law banning coal by 2030, the German energy company RWE had claimed 1.4 billion euros from The Hague to compensate for its losses on a thermal power plant. In September, Italy was ordered to pay compensation of 180 million euros to the British oil company Rockhopper, for having refused it an offshore drilling permit. Lawsuits have also been initiated against France by the German company Encavis AG following the modification of the tariffs for the purchase of photovoltaic electricity in 2020. Oil and coal giants are increasingly resorting to this type of arbitration to recover their investments and seek compensation for their loss of earnings, as states reduce the share of fossil fuels in their energy mix, the NGOs point out. “It appears from several recent cases that this charter and the treaty that followed led to somewhat speculative mechanisms and significant compensation for certain actors”, explained Emmanuel Macron in particular. Why is it criticized by environmental associations? “France has decided to withdraw from the Energy Charter Treaty, which was an important point requested by many,” said the Head of State on the sidelines of a European summit in Brussels. Indeed, this treaty is judged by several authorities as too protective of fossil fuels and incompatible with the Paris agreement, the objective of which is to limit global warming to a level well below two degrees. In an opinion issued on Wednesday, the High Council for Climate (HCC), a French consultative body, considered that this text undermined the commitment of the signatory countries “on a trajectory of decarbonization of their respective energy sectors by 2030. and living up to the ambition of the Paris Agreement”. For environmental NGOs, it further obliges States to spend public money to compensate fossil fuel companies instead of financing renewable energies. On franceinfo this Friday morning, Pascal Canfin, Renew MEP and President of the Environment Committee of the European Parliament, denounced this treaty and considered it “unbearable that fossil fuel multinationals attack the States which put in place climate policies which are demanded by all citizens and which are absolutely obvious in view of the impacts that we have seen again this summer”. Faced with the proliferation of disputes, Europeans have endeavored since 2020 to “modernize” the text. The EU had obtained in June that this Treaty on the Energy Charter (ECT) be reformed but the compromise was considered insufficient by the NGOs, who then asked the Europeans to withdraw from it. Several newspapers, including the newspaper L’Humanité, have also published on their site this Thursday, a “Letter to members of the government endorsed by civil society organizations” signed by many associations and NGOs. This letter expressly asked France to withdraw from the treaty. Is France the only country to leave the treaty? France is not the only country to have taken the decision to leave this convention. The Netherlands have already announced on Wednesday that they will withdraw from the treaty, as has Spain. Poland has also launched a parliamentary procedure to leave it. Russia had already withdrawn from the treaty in 2009, followed by Italy in 2016. In its opinion, the HCC calls for a broader withdrawal: as the least risky option to enable the achievement of climate objectives and the respect of the necessary decarbonization rates by 2030″. There remains the thorny question of the “survival clause” of the ECT to protect for another 20 years, after the withdrawal of a signatory country, the fossil fuel installations covered by the treaty.