I. The final Plenary Session of the European Energy Charter Conference was held at Lisbon on 16-17 December 1994.  Representatives of the Republic of Albania, the Republic of Armenia, Australia, the Republic of Austria, the Azerbaijani Republic, the Kingdom of Belgium, the Republic of Belarus, the Republic of Bulgaria, Canada, the Republic of Croatia, the Republic of Cyprus, the Czech Republic, the Kingdom of Denmark, the Republic of Estonia, the European Communities, the Republic of Finland, the French Republic, the Republic of Georgia, the Federal Republic of Germany, the Hellenic Republic, the Republic of Hungary, the Republic of Iceland, Ireland, the Italian Republic, Japan, the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Republic of Kyrgyzstan, the Republic of Latvia, the Principality of Liechtenstein, the Republic of Lithuania, the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, the Republic of Malta, the Republic of Moldova, the Kingdom of the Netherlands, the Kingdom of Norway, the Republic of Poland, the Portuguese Republic, Romania, the Russian Federation, the Slovak Republic, the Republic of Slovenia, the Kingdom of Spain, the Kingdom of Sweden, the Swiss Confederation, the Republic of Tajikistan, the Republic of Turkey, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, the United States of America and the Republic of Uzbekistan (hereinafter referred to as "the representatives") participated in the Conference, as did invited observers from certain countries and international organizations.

Background

II. During the meeting of the European Council in Dublin in June 1990, the Prime Minister of the Netherlands suggested that economic recovery in Eastern Europe and the then Union of Soviet Socialist Republics could be catalysed and accelerated by co-operation in the energy sector.  This suggestion was welcomed by the Council, which invited the Commission of the European Communities to study how best to implement such co-operation. In February 1991 the Commission proposed the concept of a European Energy Charter.

Following discussion of the Commission's proposal in the Council of the European Communities, the European Communities invited the other countries of Western and Eastern Europe, of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and the non-European members of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development to attend a conference in Brussels in July 1991 to launch negotiations on the European Energy Charter.  A number of other countries and international organizations were invited to attend the European Energy Charter Conference as observers.

Negotiations on the European Energy Charter were completed in 1991 and the Charter was adopted by signature of a Concluding Document at a conference held at The Hague on 16-17 December 1991.  Signatories of the Charter, then or subsequently, include all those listed in Section I above, other than observers.

The signatories of the European Energy Charter undertook:

-    to pursue the objectives and principles of the Charter and implement and broaden their co-operation as soon as possible by negotiating in good faith a Basic Agreement and Protocols.

The European Energy Charter Conference accordingly began negotiations on a Basic Agreement — later called the Energy Charter Treaty — designed to promote East-West industrial co-operation by providing legal safeguards in areas such as investment, transit and trade.  It also began negotiations on Protocols in the fields of energy efficiency, nuclear safety and hydrocarbons, although in the last case negotiations were later suspended until completion of the Energy Charter Treaty. 

Negotiations on the Energy Charter Treaty and the Energy Charter Protocol on Energy Efficiency and Related Environmental Aspects were successfully completed in 1994.

THE Energy Charter Treaty

III. As a result of its deliberations the European Energy Charter Conference has adopted the text of the Energy Charter Treaty (hereinafter referred to as the "Treaty") which is set out in Annex 1 and Decisions with respect thereto which are set out in Annex 2, and agreed that the Treaty would be open for signature at Lisbon from 17 December 1994 to 16 June 1995.

UNDERSTANDINGS

IV.  By signing the Final Act, the representatives agreed to adopt the following Understandings with respect to the Treaty:

      1. With respect to the Treaty as a whole

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      2. With respect to Article 1(5)

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      3. With respect to Article 1(6)

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      4. With respect to Article 1(8)

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      5. With respect to Article 1(12)

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      6.  With respect to Article 5(1)

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      7.  With respect to Article 6

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      8. With respect to Article 7(4)

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      9. With respect to Articles 9, 10 and Part V

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      10. With respect to Article 10(4)

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      11. With respect to Articles 10(4) and 29(6)

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      12. With respect to Article 14(5)

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      13. With respect to Article 19(1)(i)

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      14. With respect to Articles 22 and 23

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      15. With respect to Article 24

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      16. With respect to Article 26(2)(a)

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      17. With respect to Articles 26 and 27

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      18. With respect to Article 29(2)(a)

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      19. With respect to Article 33

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      20. With respect to Article 34

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      21. With respect to Article 34(3)(m)

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      22. With respect to Annex TFU(1)

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declarations

V. The representatives declared that Article 18(2) shall not be construed to allow the circumvention of the application of the other provisions of the Treaty.

VI. The representatives also noted the following Declarations that were made with respect to the Treaty:

      1. With respect to Article 1(6)

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      2. With respect to Articles 5 and 10(11)

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      3. With respect to Article 7

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      4. With respect to Article 10

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      5. With respect to Article 25

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      6. With respect to Article 40

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      7.  With respect to Annex G(4)

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THE Energy Charter Protocol on Energy Efficiency And Related Environmental Aspects

VII. The European Energy Charter Conference has adopted the text of the Energy Charter Protocol on Energy Efficiency and Related Environmental Aspects which is set out in Annex 3.

The European Energy Charter

VIII.The provisional Charter Conference and the Charter Conference provided for in the Treaty shall henceforth be responsible for making decisions on requests to sign the Concluding Document of the Hague Conference on the European Energy Charter and the European Energy Charter adopted thereby.

DOCUMENTATION

IX.  The records of negotiations of the European Energy Charter Conference will be deposited with the Secretariat.

Done at Lisbon on the seventeenth day of December in the year one thousand nine hundred and ninety-four.