Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether his Department has made an assessment of the risk of claims being made against the UK in the context of the Energy Charter Treaty in the next financial year.

The United Kingdom has investment agreements with Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) provisions with over 90 trading partners, including within the Energy Charter Treaty (ECT). There has never been a successful ISDS claim brought against the United Kingdom.

Negotiations have recently been completed to modernise the investment protection and dispute settlement provisions in the ECT. This modernisation seeks to provide greater clarity on the standards of protection afforded to investors and reduce the scope for claims which lack legal merit. The UK is monitoring developments regarding the adoption of the modernised treaty, including the positions of other Contracting Parties.