Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

The Energy Charter Treaty: Old and New Dilemmas in Global Energy Governance

  • Living reference work entry
  • First Online:
Handbook of Energy Governance in Europe

Abstract

The Energy Charter Treaty (ECT) is a rare example of rules-based international energy governance, joining consumer, producer, and transit countries. Besides extending the multilateral trade rules to the energy domain, the ECT has also become the most often invoked international investment agreement. However, the evolution of the ECT has remained particularly susceptible to changing international power balances and ideational struggles. In reviewing the main scholarly and practical debates on the ECT, this chapter walks through three decades of European and global energy governance, addressing the emergence, transformation, and the recent mixed signs of modernization and decline of the ECT. The chapter touches on several core debates across disciplines, from the factors explaining the emergence of international regimes, the problem of overlapping regional and international legal orders, or the consequences of politicization of international economic institutions. The chapter concludes with a forward-looking reflection on the main challenges facing the ECT in a context of crisis of the liberal world order and growingly relevant concerns such as climate change and the security implications of foreign investment.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Aalto, P. (2016). The new International Energy Charter: Instrumental or incremental progress in governance? Energy Research & Social Science, 11, 92–96.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Alcaro, R. (Ed.). (2018). The liberal order and its contestations. International Spectator, Special Issue, 53(1). https://doi.org/10.1080/03932729.2018.1397878.

  • Álvarez, G. M. (2018). Redefining the relationship between the Energy Charter Treaty and the treaty of functioning of the European Union: From a normative conflict to policy tension. ICSID Review, 33(2), 560–581.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Anders-Speed, P. (1999). The politics of petroleum and the Energy Charter Treaty as an effective investment regime. Journal of Energy Finance & Development, 4, 127.

    Google Scholar 

  • Axelrod, R. S. (1996). The European Energy Charter Treaty. Reality or illusion? Energy Policy, 24(6), 497–505.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Basedow, J. R. (2018). The EU in the global investment regime. London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Basedow, J. R. (2020). The Achmea judgment and the applicability of the Energy Charter Treaty in intra-EU investment arbitration. Journal of International Economic Law. https://doi.org/10.1093/jiel/jgz025.

  • Beham, M., & Prantl, D. (2020). Intra-EU investment reform: What options for the Energy Charter Treaty?. Kluwer Arbitration Blog. Retrieved from: http://arbitrationblog.kluwerarbitration.com/2020/01/07/intra-eu-investment-reform-what-options-for-the-energy-charter-treaty/

  • Belyi, A. V. (2008). EU external energy policies: A paradox of integration. In J. Orbie (Ed.), Europe’s global role. External policies of the European Union (pp. 203–216). Aldershot: Ashgate.

    Google Scholar 

  • Belyi, A. V. (2012). The EU’s missed role in international transit governance. Journal of European Integration, 34(3), 261–276.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Belyi, A. V. (2014). International energy governance: Weaknesses of multilateralism. International Studies Perspectives, 15, 313–328.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Belyi, A., Nappert, S., & Pogoretskyy, V. (2011). Modernizing the Energy Charter process? The Energy Charter Conference Road Map and the Russian Draft Convention on Energy Security. Oil, Gas & Energy Law Intelligence, 5, 78. Retrieved from: https://www.ogel.org

  • Berman, G. A. (2018). ECT and European Union law. In M. Scherer (Ed.), International arbitration in the energy sector (pp. 203–220). Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bonafé, E., & Mete, G. (2016). Escalated interactions between EU energy law and the Energy Charter Treaty. Journal of World Energy Law and Business, 9, 174–188.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bonafé, E., & Piebalgs, A. (2017). The new International Energy Charter: Sustainable energy transition, investment dispute resolution and market regulation. Policy brief 33, Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies/European University Institute.

    Google Scholar 

  • Boute, A. (2019). Economic statecraft and investment arbitration. University of Pennsylvania Journal of International Law, 40(2), 383–418.

    Google Scholar 

  • Buchan, D. (2009). Energy and climate change: Europe at the crossroads. Oxford: Oxford University Press/Oxford Institute for Energy Studies.

    Google Scholar 

  • Corporate Europe Observatory. (2018). One treaty to rule them all: The ever-expanding Energy Charter Treaty and the power it gives corporations to halt the energy transition. Corporate Europe Observatory. Retrieved from: https://corporateeurope.org/en/international-trade/2018/06/one-treaty-rule-them-all

  • Cox, R. W. (1981). Social forces, states and world orders: Beyond international relations. Millennium: Journal of International Studies, 10(2), 126–155.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • De Jong, S. (2017). The International Energy Charter: A new impetus for global energy governance? In R. Leal-Arcas & J. Wouters (Eds.), Research handbook on EU energy law and policy (pp. 179–191). Northampton: Edward Elgar.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • De Ville, F., & Gheyle, N. (2019). The unintended consequences of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership negotiations. The International Spectator, 54(1), 16–30.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Doré, J. (1996). Negotiating the Energy Charter Treaty. In T. Waelde (Ed.), The Energy Charter Treaty. An East–West gateway for investment and trade (pp. 137–155). London/The Hague/Boston: Kluwer Law International.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dreyer, I. (2015). Brussels moves against bilateral investment treaties within EU, undermines Energy Charter. Borderlex, 7 September. Retrieved from: http://www.energypost.eu/brussels-moves-intra-eu-investor-state-arbitration-puts-pressure-energy-charter/

  • Energy Charter. (2019). Investment dispute settlement cases. Retrieved from: https://www.energycharter.org/what-we-do/dispute-settlement/all-investment-dispute-settlement-cases/

  • Gazzini, T. (2015). Yukos Universal Limited (Isle of Man) v The Russian Federation: Provisional application of the ECT in the Yukos case. ICSID Review, 30(2), 293–302.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Goldthau, A., & Witte, J. M. (2009). Back to the future or forward to the past? Strengthening markets and rules for effective global energy governance. International Affairs, 85(2), 373–390.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gotev, G. (2019). Nord Stream 2 seeks arbitration in dispute with EU Commission. Euractiv, 1 October. Retrieved from: https://www.euractiv.com/section/energy/news/nord-stream-2-seeks-arbitration-in-dispute-with-eu-commission/

  • Grätz, J. (2011). Common rules without strategy: EU energy policy and Russia. In V. L. Birchfield & J. S. Duffield (Eds.), Toward a common European Union energy policy (pp. 61–86). Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Hadfield, A., & Amkhan-Bayno, A. (2012). From Russia with cold feet: EU–Russia energy relations, and the Energy Charter Treaty. International Journal of Energy Security and Environmental Research, 1, 1–16.

    Google Scholar 

  • Herranz-Surrallés, A. (2012). La UE y el Tratado de la Carta Energética: la política energética europea en el limbo de la (in)coherencia. In E. Barbé (Ed.), Cambio mundial y gobernanza global: La interacción entre la Unión Europea y las instituciones internacionales. Madrid: Tecnos.

    Google Scholar 

  • Herranz-Surrallés, A. (2016a). An upstream battle: The EU and the reform of the Energy Charter Treaty. In E. Barbé, O. Costa, & R. Kissack (Eds.), EU policy responses to shifting multilateral system (pp. 49–66). Basingstoke: Palgrave.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Herranz-Surrallés, A. (2016b). An emerging EU energy diplomacy? Discursive shifts, enduring practices. Journal of European Public Policy, 23(9), 1386–1405.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Herranz-Surrallés, A. (2020). “Authority shifts” in global governance: Intersecting politicizations and the reform of investor–state arbitration. Politics and Governance, 28(1). https://doi.org/10.17645/pag.v8i1.2651.

  • Hobér, K. (2018). Overview of Energy Charter Treaty cases. In M. Scherer (Ed.), International arbitration in the energy sector (pp. 175–202). Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ikenberry, G. J. (2018). The end of liberal international order? International Affairs, 94(1), 7–23.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Keay-Bright, S., & Defilla, S. (2019). Energy Charter Treaty review should end protection for fossil fuels. Energy Post EU, 20 March. Retrieved from: https://energypost.eu/energy-charter-treaty-review-should-end-protection-for-fossil-fuels

  • Konoplyanik, A. A. (1996). The Energy Charter Treaty: A Russian perspective. In T. Wälde (Ed.), The Energy Charter Treaty. An East–West gateway for investment and trade (pp. 156–178). London/The Hague/Boston: Kluwer Law International.

    Google Scholar 

  • Konoplyanik, A. A. (2005). ECT and the Yukos case. Petroleum Economist, June, pp. 35–36.

    Google Scholar 

  • Konoplyanik, A. A. (2009). Russia: Don’t oppose the Energy Charter, help to adapt it. Petroleum Economist, July, pp. 2–3.

    Google Scholar 

  • Krikovic, A. (2015). When interdependence produces conflict: EU–Russia energy relations as a security dilemma. Contemporary Security Policy, 36(1), 3–26.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lubbers, R. (1996). Foreword. In T. Wälde (Ed.), The Energy Charter Treaty. An East–West gateway for investment and trade (pp. i–xvii). London/The Hague/Boston: Kluwer Law International.

    Google Scholar 

  • Magnette, P. (2017). CETA, Quand l’Europe déraille. Namur: Luc Pire.

    Google Scholar 

  • Matlary, J. H. (1996). Energy policy: From a national to a European framework? In H. Wallace & W. Wallance (Eds.), Policy making in the European Union (3rd ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • McGowan, F. (1989). The single energy market and energy policy: Conflicting agendas? Energy Policy, 17(6), 547–553.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • MENA Chambers. (2015). Italy’s withdrawal from the Energy Charter Treaty, Note 12, 5 May. Retrieved from: http://www.menachambers.com/expertise/energy-charter-treaty/MCET_ECT_Note-12_05052015.pdf

  • Pominova, I. (2014). Risks and benefits for the Russian Federation from participating in the Energy Charter. Occasional paper. Brussels: Energy Charter Secretariat.

    Google Scholar 

  • Prange-Gstöhl, H. (2009). Enlarging the EU’s internal energy market: Why would third countries accept EU rule export? Energy Policy, 37(12), 5296–5303.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Romanova, T. (2016). Is Russian energy policy towards the EU only about geopolitics? The case of the Third Liberalisation Package. Geopolitics, 21(4), 857–879.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rusnák, U. (2013). Modernization of the Energy Charter, Russia in global affairs, December. Retrieved from: http://eng.globalaffairs.ru/number/Modernization-of-the-Energy-Charter-16294

  • Rusnák, U. (2014). Reinforcing the EU’s external energy policy: Views from the Energy Charter Secretariat, Brussels, 21 May. Retrieved from: https://www.energycharter.org/media/news/article/reinforcing-eu-external-energy-policy-energy-charter-secretariat-perspective/

  • Schill, S. (2017). Memorandum on possible implications under Denmark’s Investment Treaty Commitments of the Draft Bill to amend the Danish Continental Shelf Act (submitted for public consultation on 23 June 2017). Retrieved from: https://www.ft.dk/samling/20171/lovforslag/L43/bilag/3/1805330/index.htm

  • Selianova, Y. (2012). The Energy Charter and the International Energy Governance. In Y. Selianova (Ed.), Regulation of energy in international trade law (pp. 373–406). New York: Kluwer Law International.

    Google Scholar 

  • Talus, K. (2013). EU energy law and policy: A critical account. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Tienhaara, K., & Downie, C. (2018). Risky business? The Energy Charter Treaty, renewable energy and investor-state disputes. Global Governance, 24, 451–471.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • UNCTAD. (2019). Investment dispute settlement navigator. Retrieved from: https://investmentpolicy.unctad.org/investment-dispute-settlement

  • Van de Graaf, T. (2013). The politics and institutions of global energy governance. New York: Palgrave.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Verburg, C. (2019). Modernising the Energy Charter Treaty: An opportunity to enhance legal certainty in investor-state dispute settlement. The Journal of World Investment & Trade, 20(2–3), 425–454.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Voon, T. (2019) Modernizing the Energy Charter Treaty: What about termination?. IISD Analysis, 2 October. Retrieved from: https://iisd.org/itn/

  • Wälde, T. (1996). Foreword. In T. W. Wälde (Ed.), The Energy Charter Treaty: An East–West gateway for investment and trade (pp. xiii–xvii). London/The Hague/Boston: Kluwer Law International.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wehrlé, F., & Pohl, J. (2016). Investment policies related to national security: A survey of country practices (OECD working papers on international investment). Paris: OECD Publishing.

    Google Scholar 

  • Westphal, K. (2009). Russian gas, Ukrainian pipelines, and European supply security. Lessons of the 2009 controversies (SWP research paper 11). Berlin: Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik.

    Google Scholar 

  • Westphal, K. (2011). The Energy Charter Treaty revisited (SWP comments, no. 8). Berlin: Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik.

    Google Scholar 

  • Yafimava, K. (2011). The transit dimension of EU energy security (p. 117). Oxford: Oxford University Press/Oxford Institute for Energy Studies.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands

    Anna Herranz-Surrallés

Authors
  1. Anna Herranz-Surrallés
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Anna Herranz-Surrallés .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Political Science, Technical University of Darmstadt Institute of Political Science, Darmstadt, Germany

    Michèle Knodt

  2. Institute of Political Science, Technical University of Darmstadt Institute of Political Science, Darmstadt, Hessen, Germany

    Jörg Kemmerzell

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2020 Springer Nature Switzerland AG

About this entry

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this entry

Herranz-Surrallés, A. (2020). The Energy Charter Treaty: Old and New Dilemmas in Global Energy Governance. In: Knodt, M., Kemmerzell, J. (eds) Handbook of Energy Governance in Europe. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-73526-9_65-1

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-73526-9_65-1

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-73526-9

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-73526-9

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference Political Science and International StudiesReference Module Humanities and Social SciencesReference Module Business, Economics and Social Sciences

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation