Modernizing the Energy Charter Process? The Energy Charter Conference Road Map and the Russian Draft Convention on Energy Security
31 Pages Posted: 26 Mar 2011 Last revised: 2 Nov 2014
Date Written: March 5, 2011
Abstract
On 24 November 2010, the Energy Charter Conference adopted a "Road Map for the Modernisation of the Energy Charter Process" (Road Map) as a strategic document to respond to the important changes in global energy relations since the 1990’s and ensure the relevance and authority of the Energy Charter Treaty (ECT) in current circumstances and for the future.
The Road Map expressly recognises the contribution of the Conceptual Approach to the New Legal Framework for Energy Cooperation presented in April 2009 by the President of the Russian Federation (Russia) Dmitry Medvedev, subsequently embodied in a Draft Convention on Energy Security (Draft Convention) issued in September 2010. It also makes specific reference to energy security as one of the goals of multilateral energy cooperation, a longstanding Russian concern in the Energy Charter context.
How does the Road Map respond to Russia’s concerns as set out in the Draft Convention? Is Russia, having officially stated its intention on 20 August 2009 not to become a Contracting Party to the ECT as it stands, and instead proposed the Draft Convention, back in the Energy Charter process? This article assesses future developments in international energy governance in light of the Road Map and Draft Convention. It concludes that, while the Draft Convention stands in potential contradiction to the multilateral spirit of the ECT, the Road Map helps integrating Russian concerns into the Energy Charter process.
Keywords: Energy Charter Treaty, Energy security, Russia, European Union
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