Dr. Michael de Boeck:

I thank the committee for inviting me to address it. I hope I can contribute meaningfully to its consultations on what I believe is surely one of the most important problems we will face in our lifetimes. Climate change is an inescapable problem that does not know borders or nationality. In deciding how best to contribute to this committee's work, I decided I would like to shed some light on the Energy Charter Treaty and ISDS provisions in general, in respect of both energy security and the EU green transition.

I find myself agreeing with several remarks very astutely made by Dr. Saheb but would like to add nuance to the analysis. The question that has guided my brief opening statement concerns whether the Energy Charter Treaty as it is today — the phrase "as it is today" is an important nuance — is a liability in realising the ambitious climate change and sustainable development goals. Unfortunately, I believe the answer to that question is "Yes". I say "unfortunately" because I am not in principle opposed to the Energy Charter Treaty and believe it has some redeeming qualities. One of its benefits is that it regulates the trade and transit of energy.

ISDS provisions are certainly the most controversial provisions of the Energy Charter Treaty but they are only a part of it. Although the Energy Charter Treaty could ensure or help to ensure the EU’s security of energy supply, it is the ISDS provisions that likely bring themselves to bear on the EU's green transition. I will give a brief explanation as to why that is the case. I will try to show members some of the high-level tendencies that I believe show the important conflict that will arise in the years to come.

The Energy Charter Treaty, as many people know, was concluded with an eye to our eastern and central eastern neighbours to ensure the protection of investments there, thereby creating stability, prosperity and stable regimes and, as a consequence, a stable energy supply. That was important in the 1990s, particularly with respect to the precarious circumstances after the collapse of the Soviet Union. The treaty was very successful then. However, since that time, the situation has changed considerably, as we all know. First, Russia, one of the major suppliers of energy to our east, definitively withdrew from the Energy Charter Treaty. A little later, the EU expanded to the east, meaning the only non-EU states between the Union and Russia were Moldova, Ukraine and Belarus. The EU also gained competence in respect of energy as a policy matter. As a result, we have paid much more attention to energy security in the European neighbourhood policy, which is extended by the energy charter community to other states and by association agreements we conclude with other states, such as Ukraine. A recent agreement covers energy, trade and transit.

The Energy Charter Treaty has lost much of its original rationale, which involved investment protection in the eastern and central eastern regions, but that shift was reflected in a rather recent energy charter-----