Secretary General Dr. Urban Rusnák opened the meeting that was chaired by Mrs Klara Rakhmetova from Kazakhstan. 

The works were started by Ms. Jenya Grigorova, research fellow at the Secretariat, giving a thorough assessment of the Energy Charter country reviews and policy recommendations prepared by the Secretariat since 2001. The Investment Group confirmed the high relevance of the country reviews and discussed proposals to update their objectives, adjust their format and enhance technical assistance provided by the Secretariat. An additional flagship publication on Energy Investment Risk Assessment was suggested in order to strengthen energy investment promotion and political risk reduction under the Energy Charter Treaty. 

Mr Dirk Pulkowski, Senior Legal Counsel at the Permanent Court of Arbitration and Mrs Spela Kosak, from the International Chamber of Commerce, contributed to a lively discussion assessing alternative dispute resolution under the Energy Charter Treaty. In this respect, the Secretariat was asked to continue the work on promoting alternative dispute resolution, including mediation, under the Energy Charter Treaty. 

The Secretariat informed on the progress of the comprehensive review of the Energy Charter Blue Book, recording several discriminatory measures in the preinvestment phase and recalled the possibility to resume the negotiations of the Supplementary Treaty. 

Research fellow Prof. Wenhua Shan presented his draft report on the compatibility of Chinese laws and regulation with the Energy Charter Treaty. He emphasised the significant potential benefits of China’s accession to the Energy Charter Treaty especially in relation to the modernisation which coincides with China’s One Belt One Road initiative. 

The Secretariat finally presented a discussion paper elaborating a proposal of a Task Force on Energy Co-operation in favour of Island States. The proposal, which takes into account the existing energy cooperation initiatives in favour of island states was welcomed by the Investment Group. 

The next meeting of the Investment Group will take place in Brussels on 20 October 2015.