Energy World | 27 October 2025
Romania withdraws from the Energy Charter Treaty
The Government has approved a draft law approving Romania’s withdrawal from the Energy Charter Treaty.
“The draft law approves Romania’s withdrawal from the Energy Charter Treaty (ECT), a multilateral instrument of energy cooperation, aiming to promote energy security through open and competitive markets.
This treaty was signed in 1994 and entered into force in 1998, however, in the current context of European energy and climate policies, the provisions of this Treaty have become anachronistic and contradict the objectives of the European Green Deal and the Paris Agreement”, the Government announces.
Thus, Romania aligns its position with that of the European Union and other Member States that have already notified their withdrawal from the ECT (Italy, France, Spain, the Netherlands, Poland, Slovenia, Portugal, etc.); the European Commission and the EU Council adopted in 2024 the official decisions to withdraw the Union and Euratom from the Treaty. The decision is based on the case law of the Court of Justice of the European Union, in particular the Komstroy case (C-741/19), which established that Article 26 of the TEC, concerning investor-state arbitration, is incompatible with Union law in intra-EU relations.
Consequently, Romania signed the Joint Declaration on the non-applicability of this Article and initialled the related Interpretative Agreement, thus limiting the legal effects of the Treaty. The withdrawal will take effect one year after the official notification sent to the TEC Secretariat, in accordance with Art. 47 of the Treaty and Art. 34 of Law No. 590/2003 on Treaties.
The effects of the protection granted to investments will cease 20 years after the date of withdrawal, in accordance with the sunset clause.
“From a financial perspective, the measure determines the termination of Romania’s obligation to pay the annual contribution to the Energy Charter Conference budget (39,246 euros in 2025). At the same time, it reduces the legal and financial risks associated with international arbitration actions filed against the Romanian state under the ECT. Through this draft law, Romania reaffirms its commitment to the transition to clean energy, reducing dependence on fossil fuels and aligning with European environmental and sustainable development policies, thus contributing to the climate and energy security objectives of the European Union,” the Government states.
The draft law will be submitted to Parliament for debate and adoption.
Known as the Energy Charter Treaty, the agreement concluded in 1998 is signed by approximately 50 countries worldwide, with the aim of financially protecting foreign investments in energy infrastructure among the agreement’s members. Based on it, companies can sue governments for energy policies that affect their investments. The European Commission and several member states have already expressed concerns about the obstacles this agreement could pose to the green transition.
