The Energy Charter

The Energy Charter Treaty is a multilateral treaty which was created in the wake of the collapse of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s in an attempt to promote energy security and investments in the energy sectors of the former Soviet countries and Eastern Europe.

The Treaty lays down a legal framework for cross-border trade in energy among the member states.

The main purpose of the Treaty is to provide legal protection for foreign investors against non-commercial risks, such as discrimination, expropriation or breach of contract.

The Treaty also contains a system for settling disputes.

Apart from its core task of promoting a reliable investment climate, the Energy Charter Treaty focuses also on promoting energy efficiency solutions. This is done through the Energy Charter Protocol on Energy Efficiency and Related Environmental Aspects (PEEREA).

The Energy Charter Treaty and PEEREA were signed in 1994 and entered into force in 1998. A total of 51 states, the EU and Euratom have signed or acceded the Treaty, including Russia, although Russia has not ratified the Treaty.