Hildegarde Naughton (Galway West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The modernisation of the treaty was initiated to respond to a world where the importance of renewables was paramount and to the policy objectives of the EU and non-EU countries to phase out fossil fuels in favour of renewables. That is essential. The Government's position is, therefore, that the best outcome of the treaty-modernisation negotiations is to align the treaty with the Paris Agreement and the European Green Deal, while maintaining the energy security framework provided by the treaty.

While the option to withdraw from the treaty is reserved, the Senator will be familiar with the sunset clause that would apply in this case, recent CJEU rulings notwithstanding. Given the agreement, in principle, is now considered possible at the ECT conference at the end of this month, considerations of withdrawal should be deferred until at least this event has had the opportunity to deliver agreement.

Recent rulings by the CJEU have determined that the arbitration system under the ECT cannot be used to claim compensation in intra-EU disputes. The court confirmed that despite the multilateral character of the ECT and the fact that it also governs relationships with non-EU countries, the preservation of the autonomy and specific character of EU law precludes the ECT from being able to impose the same obligations on the member states among themselves. Since the ruling would likely not preclude the use of the treaty arbitration process in intra-EU cases held elsewhere in the world, there have been further calls from several member states for a co-ordinated withdrawal from the treaty. It should be noted, however, that in terms of a 20-year sunset clause under which treaty terms would continue to apply, a co-ordinated withdrawal would, therefore, need to manage this risk.