Fully supporting the fundamental principles contained in the 1991 Charter, under which they have all put their signatures over the years, Energy Charter member countries agreed that this important document required updating. The realities of the world of energy of the 21st century need to be addressed by the Energy Charter Process, as does the changing focus of the Charter, which now goes beyond the traditional link between Western Europe and Former Soviet countries and on to new regions of the globe.

To meet these challenges, the Energy Charter member countries agreed to engage in a process of preparing the draft of an updated version of the 1991 Energy Charter. Upon the successful completion of negotiations with all member countries and reaching agreement on the updated text of the Charter, a high-level ad hoc Conference will be convened for the official adoption of this unique document.

The Government of Poland, the host of the 23rd Meeting of the Energy Charter Conference, confirmed their consent for this important process of modernising the 1991 Energy Charter to be referred to as the Warsaw Process.

The 1991 (European) Energy Charter is at the heart of the Energy Charter Process, it is the political declaration giving foundation to the legally binding 1994 Energy Charter Treaty. The first step for a country to become a member of the Treaty is to sign the Energy Charter. As of today, sixty-one countries have signed the Charter (the most recent country to do so was the Republic of Montenegro on 27 November 2012), fifty-one have become members of the Energy Charter Treaty. The Energy Charter Conference is the governing and decision-making body of the Energy Charter. It brings together fifty-one member governments from Europe and Asia, as well as the European Union and Euratom.