One of the objectives of the ECT is to facilitate transactions and investments in the energy sector by reducing political and regulatory risks. The obligations of the Contracting Parties to promote and protect investors` investments are set out in Part III of the EC Treaty. Under these provisions, the Parties undertake to ensure fair and equitable treatment, including permanent protection and security, under which a Party shall in no way prejudice the management, maintenance, use, operation, operation or disposal of such investments by taking inappropriate measures; and accord treatment to investments and related activities no less favourable than that of their own investors or those of another Party or a third country, according to which it is most favourable. Italy was a party to the EC Treaty until the 1st. January 2016, the date on which he withdrew from the Energy Charter Treaty. Investments in the energy sector in Italy after this date are not protected by the EC Treaty. On the contrary, investments made in Italy before 1 January 2016 will remain protected until 2036. The initial declaration on the European Energy Charter was signed in The Hague on 17 December 1991. It was a political declaration of principles for international cooperation in the field of energy in the areas of trade, transit and investment, and the intention to negotiate a legally binding treaty that marks the beginning of the elaboration of the Energy Charter Treaty. One of the remaining obstacles was to find language that would guarantee national sovereignty over natural resources while enshrining the principle of international cooperation to allow external access to those resources. Negotiators also managed to reassure Austria and Switzerland that they would not bear an excessive transit burden on energy resources. [3] The Energy Charter Treaty introduced the creation of a permanent secretariat, which was originally created to facilitate dialogue between the parties during negotiations on the treaty. The Secretariat is primarily mandated by the Energy Charter Conference to provide the Conference with all necessary support for the performance of its tasks, including promotion, organization and legal support, as well as meeting rooms for meetings of subsidiary bodies held in the Secretariat.

The principles of the Energy Charter are based on the idea that international flows of investment and technology in the energy sector are mutually beneficial. At the same time, national sovereignty over energy resources is a fundamental principle of the Treaty (Article 18 of the EC Treaty). One of the objectives of the Treaty is to promote transparency and efficiency in the functioning of energy markets, but it is up to governments to define the structure of their national energy sector. Each country is free to decide whether and how its domestic energy resources should be developed and to what extent its energy sector is open to foreign investors. The contract does not address issues of ownership of energy companies – there is no obligation to privatize state-owned energy companies or dismantle vertically integrated energy companies. [23] The Energy Charter Treaty imposes an obligation on Member States to facilitate the transit of energy through their territory in accordance with the principle of freedom of transit and to ensure established transit flows. At the same time, the provisions of the Treaty do not oblige any country to introduce compulsory access for third parties. [23] The Energy Charter Treaty (ECT) is an international investment treaty that establishes a multilateral framework for cross-border cooperation in the energy sector. The contract covers all aspects of commercial activities in the field of energy, including trade, transit, investment and energy efficiency. The contract is legally binding and includes dispute resolution procedures. [1] Building on Article 19 of the Energy Charter Treaty, the Protocol on Energy Efficiency and Related Environmental Aspects (PEEREA) sets out in more detail the policy principles to promote energy efficiency and provides guidelines for the development of energy efficiency programmes. PeerEA was negotiated, opened for signature and entered into force at the same time (16 April 1998) as the Energy Charter Treaty.

The Energy Charter Treaty contains a set of rules that cover the entire energy chain, including not only investments in production and production, but also the conditions under which energy can be traded between different national jurisdictions and transported to international markets. As such, the agreement aims to prevent an interruption in the flow of fuel between countries. [20] Article 33 of the Treaty establishes the Energy Charter Conference, which is the governing and decision-making body of the Organization[5] and has observer status in the United Nations General Assembly in resolution 62/75 adopted by the General Assembly on 6 December 2007. [6] Members are countries and regional economic integration organizations that have signed or acceded to the Treaty and are represented in the Conference and its subsidiary bodies. The Conference meets regularly to discuss issues relating to cooperation among Members in the field of energy, to review the implementation of the Treaty and the provisions of PEEREA, and to discuss new activities under the Energy Charter. The Energy Charter Conference has the following subsidiary bodies: Arbitral awards and international arbitration rules highlighted by the violation of energy Charter Treaty law sometimes amount to hundreds of millions of dollars. In 2014, the Yukos case, which has been going on for nearly 10 years, was decided in favor of the plaintiffs on the basis of the contract, with a record price of $50 billion. The Energy Charter Transit Protocol is a draft protocol whose negotiations have not yet been concluded. The Protocol would extend and strengthen the treaty`s provisions on energy transit issues in order to mitigate specific operational risks that continue to affect energy transit flows. Negotiations on the text of the Transit Protocol started in early 2000 and a compromise text reflecting an in-depth debate between the European Union and Russia was presented for adoption at the energy charter conference meeting on 10 December 2003.

During the meeting, it became clear that no unanimous decision could be taken on the basis of the compromise text; To make matters worse, energy issues, including transit, were on the bilateral agenda of the European Union and Russia in the context of Russia`s accession negotiations to the World Trade Organisation. Negotiations on the protocol were then temporarily suspended. Originally, the Energy Charter process aimed to integrate the energy sectors of the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe into broader European and global markets at the end of the Cold War. However, its role goes beyond East-West cooperation and aims to promote, through legally binding instruments, the principles of open global energy markets and non-discrimination in order to promote foreign direct investment and global cross-border trade. In addition, an advisory committee – the Industry Advisory Committee – will present to the conference and its groups the views of the private sector on relevant issues related to energy investment, cross-border flows and energy efficiency. The Energy Charter Treaty (ECT) is a multilateral investment agreement that establishes a legal framework for trade, transit and investment in energy between Member States. .