Macron announces that France withdraws from the Energy Charter Treaty

BRUSELAS, 21 Oct. (EUROPA PRESS) -

France has decided to withdraw from the Energy Charter Treaty (ECT) that empowers private energy investors to litigate against States, as announced this Friday by French President Emmanuel Macron, following in the footsteps of other partners such as Spain.

"France has decided to withdraw from the Energy Charter Treaty. It is an important point requested by many," Macron said at a press conference in Brussels at the end of a summit of EU heads of state and government focused on the urgency of adopting measures to intervene in the energy market to put a ceiling on the price of gas purchases.

Some fifty countries sign this Treaty designed in 1998 and which allows energy companies, especially those related to fossil fuels, to sue countries before a court system if they consider that the legislation goes against their interests.

The French UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) described this treaty as a "serious obstacle to the mitigation of climate change", since it is "incompatible" with the "decarbonization calendars".

In recent countries, other countries of the European Union have announced their break with this pact, considering that it goes against the commitments to fight climate change assumed by the Paris Agreement, such as the Netherlands. Spain also began this month the procedure to abandon the agreement.