The news caused a stir. On Friday 21 October, following a European Council summit in Brussels, Emmanuel Macron announced France’s withdrawal from the Energy Charter Treaty, a text “which protects those who invest in fossil fuels from policy changes that could threaten their profits”, summarizes the Guardian.
A long-awaited decision in France by several political parties and activists – some had made this treaty the reason for a complaint filed with the European Court of Human Rights last June. The text in question, signed by the European Union and 52 countries in 1994, contains provisions that protect fossil fuels and companies that would see their profits impacted by policies to combat climate change. Some have launched proceedings against several European States in this regard.
If the speech of the French president is unprecedented from a national point of view, it is much less so in the eyes of the pre