The 1991 Energy Charter, also known as the European Energy Charter, provides the political foundation for the Energy Charter Process. The Charter is a concise expression of the principles that should underpin international energy cooperation, based on a shared interest in secure energy supply and sustainable economic development.
With Chad and Niger becoming the latest signatories in April 2015, this political declaration has now been signed by sixty-six countries (including the United States and Canada), as well as the European Union and EURATOM. All Charter signatories are Observers to the Energy Charter Conference, and signing is a first and necessary step towards accession to the 1994 Energy Charter Treaty.
The full text of the Energy Charter (whose formal title is the Concluding Document of The Hague Conference on the European Energy Charter) is included in the publication on the Energy Charter Treaty and Related Documents.