Implications of Case C-741/19 Republic of Moldova v Komstroy for the modernisation process of the Energy Charter Treaty

ClientEarth argues that the Energy Charter Treaty (ECT) obstructs climate action and conflicts with EU law, specifically citing the CJEU's Komstroy ruling. The organization claims that the ECT's modernisation process is unlikely to succeed due to unanimity requirements and that companies are using investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) to sue EU states over climate policies. Consequently, ClientEarth calls for a coordinated EU withdrawal from the treaty.

• The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) ruled in Case C-741/19 Republic of Moldova v Komstroy that the investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) provision of the Energy Charter Treaty (ECT) cannot be applied to disputes within the EU.
• There is a risk that arbitral tribunals will ignore the CJEU's ruling on jurisdiction in intra-EU ECT cases, which would undermine the EU rule of law, as seen previously with the Achmea ruling.
• Modernising the ECT to align with climate goals is viewed as unlikely to succeed because Article 36(1)(a) requires unanimity for amendments, and many non-EU contracting states are reluctant to make significant changes.
• The ECT is being used by companies to challenge climate measures, exemplified by RWE and Uniper suing the Netherlands for over EUR 2.4 billion following a decision to phase out coal.

APA

ClientEarth (2021). Implications of Case C-741/19 Republic of Moldova v Komstroy for the modernisation process of the Energy Charter Treaty. https://www.clientearth.org/media/xnkgqavt/clientearth-letter-to-ec-implications-of-komstroy-ruling-on-the-ect.pdf

Chicago

ClientEarth. Implications of Case C-741/19 Republic of Moldova v Komstroy for the modernisation process of the Energy Charter Treaty. 2021. https://www.clientearth.org/media/xnkgqavt/clientearth-letter-to-ec-implications-of-komstroy-ruling-on-the-ect.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |author=ClientEarth |title=Implications of Case C-741/19 Republic of Moldova v Komstroy for the modernisation process of the Energy Charter Treaty |date=4 October 2021 |url=https://www.clientearth.org/media/xnkgqavt/clientearth-letter-to-ec-implications-of-komstroy-ruling-on-the-ect.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{clientearth2021implications, author = {{ClientEarth}}, title = {{Implications of Case C-741/19 Republic of Moldova v Komstroy for the modernisation process of the Energy Charter Treaty}}, publisher = {ClientEarth}, year = {2021}, month = oct, url = {https://www.clientearth.org/media/xnkgqavt/clientearth-letter-to-ec-implications-of-komstroy-ruling-on-the-ect.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }