Spain has begun the process of withdrawing from the Energy Charter Treaty, its minister for the ecological transition said today.
Teresa Ribera told POLITICO that a process to reduce the pact’s protections for fossil fuel projects had brought “no improvements.”
The 1994 treaty was designed to protect investments in energy infrastructure in post-Soviet countries. It affords sweeping protections for investors against government intervention.
Those protections have been used in recent years to sue countries for climate friendly policies, such as coal power phaseouts and restrictions on drilling for oil.
Reforming the deal to strip protections from fossil fuels has been a priority for the European Union. Talks concluded in June with a proposal that would allow the EU and U.K. to phase out fossil fuel protections, but green groups and some EU countries have criticized the plan.
Spain has said for the past two years that the process needed to deliver profound change or it would leave.
Ribera, who was in Prague for a meeting of EU energy ministers, said via text that Spain was now “certain” to withdraw from the deal.
The treaty has a sunset clause that means any country that leaves will remain subject to litigation for 20 years. Asked whether Spain believed it would be subject to this clause, Ribera did not answer.
Last week the Polish Sejm, the lower house of parliament, voted in favor of withdrawing from the Energy Charter Treaty. That law now needs to be passed by the senate.
