Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

176. To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment if he will clarify the Government's position on withdrawing from the EU Energy Charter Treaty; if his attention has been drawn to recent European Commission statements on the issue; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14834/23]

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

The Energy Charter Conference decided in 2017 to modernise the Treaty in order to respond to criticisms of the ECT’s dispute resolution mechanism in Article 26 and that it was inconsistent with the objectives of the Paris Agreement and with policy objectives of the EU and other countries to phase out fossil fuels in favour of renewables. On 24 June 2022, the ECT confirmed agreement in principle on a modernised Energy Charter Treaty. At the 33rd meeting of the Energy Charter Conference on 22 November 2022, the decisions relating to the modernisation of the ECT were to be subject to an unanimity vote. If the vote was successful, the decision for the modernisation of the ECT was to be adopted by the Energy Charter Conference beginning the processes for the ratification, provisional application and eventual entry into force of the modified ECT.

The key points of the agreement in principle to modify the ECT were as follows:

- Bring the ECT in line with modern standards of investment protection as per agreements recently concluded by the EU and its Member States;- Include provisions on climate change and clean energy transition in line with the Paris Agreement;- Bring transit-related provisions in line with requirements of the EU internal energy market;- Updating the definition of economic activity in the energy sector in a way that aligns the protection of investments in the EU with EU energy and climate objectives. In particular, protection for all new fossil fuel investments is to be carved out of the modified ECT.

Additionally, as part of the modernisation process, it was proposed to introduce a Fossil Fuel Carve-Out so that a country can remove protections for existing fossil fuel investments after the modernised revisions have been in force for 10 years.

During negotiations, led by the European Commission on behalf of the EU, Ireland's position has remained, in support of EU Council conclusions, to maintain its membership of the Energy Charter Treaty in the context of supporting the Agreement in Principle on the modernisation process to align the Treaty with the objectives of the Paris Agreement and the environmental concerns integral to it while having regard to the benefits to international energy security that it may provide, particularly at a time when energy security has been threatened.

To date, Ireland has not announced that it will withdraw from the ECT because a majority of EU Member States, and the European Commission, are still signed up to the Treaty. However, my Department is currently examining a non-paper from the European Commission on membership of the Energy Charter Treaty, which is being considered by all EU Member States, and we are liaising closely with the European Commission and our EU partners on the details before a final decision is made. The option remains for Ireland to support a co-ordinated EU withdrawal from the Energy Charter Treaty if it is not modernised to align with the Paris Agreement.