WHO IS THE INTERNATIONAL ENERGY CHARTER FOR?

Around 80 states took part in negotiations on the International Energy Charter, which were conducted throughout the year 2014 at the Headquarters of the Energy Charter Secretariat in Brussels, Belgium.

The main objectives of the International Energy Charter are to: 

• confirm, reinforce and enhance established principles of energy cooperation,

• create a governmental platform to address contemporary energy challenges,

• support the modernisation of the Energy Charter Process,

• contribute to solid global energy governance by facilitating new accessions to the Energy Charter Treaty, without containing any obligations in this respect.

A key tool to follow up on the political commitments contained in the International Energy Charter will be observership to the Energy Charter Conference. Signatories of the political declaration will be eligible for observer status with the Energy Charter Conference. This means they may attend the meetings of the Energy Charter Conference without a right to vote and may be invited to attend meetings of subsidiary bodies. As a general rule, normally observers have access to official documents of the Energy Charter Conference and its subsidiary bodies. They may be invited to send seconded experts to the Secretariat. Provided that funds are available, they may further benefit from activities of the Secretariat like Energy Charter Forums, Executive Training Programmes, Energy Efficiency Reviews or Reports on Investment Climate and Market Structure (ICMS). 

Observership with the Energy Charter Conference will thus offer an effective instrument to follow-up on the areas of cooperation listed in the International Energy Charter. It brings together economically and technologically advanced economies with emerging, transition and developing countries, among them energy producing, consuming and transit countries. It will be qualitatively distinct from the observership that some states have enjoyed so far. Signing the International Energy Charter or the European Energy Charter will be a condition to obtain or retain observer status. 

In terms of the benefit, three categories of states need to be distinguished: 

1. For Signatories and Contracting Parties of the Energy Charter Treaty, signing of the International Energy Charter will strengthen the authority of the Charter, reconfirm its basic principles and its openness to modernisation. There is an expectation that signing of the declaration will have a positive effect on the geographical expansion of the Energy Charter Treaty and on cooperation with non-members of the Conference. This will offer new investment and trade opportunities and thus strengthen energy security.
2. By signing the International Energy Charter the signatories of the European Energy Charter can reconfirm their commitment to the Charter, benefit from its strengthened authority and broadened cooperation. They can reassess their engagement with the Energy Charter Process in light of the modernisation agenda. They will also benefit from the application of common principles, in particular in view of an enhanced investment climate in target countries for their Foreign Direct Investments (FDI).
3. Non-signatories of the European Energy Charter will strengthen their role and influence in view of the formation of global energy governance architecture. By signing the International Energy Charter they will contribute to qualitative shifts in this architecture, which will better reflect modern energy challenges. By obtaining or retaining observership status with the Energy Charter Conference, they will have at their disposal an efficient tool for cooperation with other signatories, including many of the advanced economies, but also transiting and developing countries.