Možemo! Party: Croatia should withdraw from the Energy Charter Treaty

The Možemo! parliamentary group will once again submit a proposal for Croatia's withdrawal from the Energy Charter Treaty into parliamentary procedure because the recently rejected appeal in the dispute with MOL has shown that Croatia has only suffered losses from the treaty, Možemo! Coordinator Sandra Benčić said on Sunday.

“We are again putting to the vote the conclusion that obliges the Government to withdraw from the Energy Charter Treaty. The vote on this will be held in two weeks. It would be important for Croatian citizens to receive answers from the Government within those two weeks as to why Croatia is not withdrawing from the treaty from which we have no benefit. On the contrary, we have only suffered losses amounting to hundreds of millions of euros,” said Sandra Benčić at a press conference.

The reason for this is the rejection of the appeal filed by Croatia against the ruling of the International Center for Settlement of Investment Disputes, according to which Croatia must pay MOL 236 million euros for violating the investment rights of the Hungarian company.

“The Croatian Democratic Union has repeatedly rejected the request for Croatia to withdraw from the Energy Charter Treaty,” Benčić reminded.

This is an international treaty that was created in the 1990s as an instrument to protect investors from Western countries and their investments in the countries of the former Eastern Bloc.

“The most controversial part of this charter is the huge imbalance between the protection of investor rights and the right of the state to regulate. The Energy Charter is disastrous for all countries implementing green transition because any regulation of CO2 emission reductions could potentially give any investor the right to sue any country in which it has an interest,” she noted.

Sanctions on Russian oil should not be lifted

“Prime Minister Andrej Plenković has so far referred to a clause according to which the provisions of the treaty apply to the country for another 20 years after its withdrawal. However, the EU Court of Justice has determined that this clause cannot be applied between EU member states because European law is above that,” says Benčić.

When asked whether Russian oil should be allowed to pass through JANAF, Benčić replied that sanctions on Russian oil should not be lifted.

“If Europe, after its extremely lukewarm condemnation of what is happening in the Middle East, now gives in to Putin, I believe that we as Europe are losing our position to consistently and continuously advocate for respect for international law. Not to mention that we are strengthening Europe's enemy,” she said.

MP Urša Raukar Gamulin referred to the reports on the work of the Supreme Court that are on the agenda of the Parliament next week.

The Supreme Court has not had a president for a year, and the Croatian Democratic Union wants to elect a new head of the court in parallel with the three constitutional judges.

“The Croatian Democratic Union is sending a message to citizens that it does not respect independent institutions, in fact, it is working to weaken all such institutions. We are against any 'packaging'. All the conditions for the election of the president of the Supreme Court have been met,” Raukar Gamulin asserted.

Source: HRT