Energy Charter Treaty ratified by EU
The Decision of the Council and the Commission on the conclusion on behalf of the EU of the Energy Charter Treaty and its Protocol on Energy Efficiency and Related Environmental Aspects has recently been published in the Official Journal of the European Communities. The EU attaches great importance to the ratification and implementation of the Energy Charter Treaty, which provides for long-term cooperation, protection of investment and open trade in the energy sector throughout Western and Eastern Europe. Signed in 1994 by some 45 European countries, the EU, and Canada, the USA, Australia and Japan, the Treaty is now due to enter into force in March 1998, following its ratification by over 30 of the signatories. Whilst the present Decision approves the Treaty and the Protocol on behalf of the European Communities, each Member State must also ratify it individually. The EU has decided that all Member States would deposit their instruments of ratification simultaneously with the instruments ratifying the Treaty on behalf of the Communities, given the fact that matters covered by the Treaty fall under both EU and national competences. The Decision also describes the process by which the Community will adopt any position which it may be required to take within the Energy Charter Conference, where the decisions of that conference require the modification of Community legislation. In this case, the Council will normally act by qualified majority, only acting by unanimity if the decision to be taken covers a field which normally requires unanimity. The European Parliament will be kept fully informed and have a regular opportunity to express its views on the Community position within the Conference.