CYIL vol. 10 (2019)

CYIL 10 ȍ2019Ȏ HYBRID THREATS TO ENERGY SECURITY: PERSPECTIVES OF INTERNATIONAL LAW and sovereignty over energy resources. 67 Article 2 states that “This Treaty establishes a legal framework in order to promote long-term cooperation in the energy field, based on complementarities and mutual benefits, in accordance with the objectives and principles of the Charter.” 68 M. S. Peters outlines five main areas of the regulation by the treaty: 1. “Protection and promotion of foreign energy investments, based on the extension of national treatment, or most favoured nation treatment; 2. Free trade in energy materials, products and energy-related equipment, based on WTO rules; 3. Freedom of energy transit through pipelines and grids; 4. Reducing the negative environmental impact of the energy cycle through improving energy efficiency and 5. Mechanisms for the resolution of State-to-State or Investor-to-State disputes.” 69 Konoplyanik and Walde underline that the Treaty is a singular international legally binding instrument of this field. 70 The Energy Charter Treaty may be considered as one of the most important factors or instruments in international relations in ensuring energy security. As mentioned above, for ensuring energy security a continuous assurance of an adequate and reliable supply of energy at a reasonable cost at any given moment of time is essential 71 . Right investment decisions play an important role in this process. Konoplyanik and Walde outline that “the major long- run risk to security of energy supply lies in making the wrong investment choices, in being unable to improve efficiency, to diversify energy supply sources and build invulnerable, diversified and distributed future energy supply systems that can handle local disruptions with ease and therefore offer little return to terrorism or other attempts to block/prevent energy flows.” 72 . Provisions of Article 3 of the Treaty outline, among other objectives, aim to “develop and open and competitive market for Energy Materials and Products and Energy- Related Equipment.” 73 This contributes to the aim to secure the supply chain and in turn, provide better security to investors and their investments. Herein lie the security interests of both producers and consumers, as well as those of host states. 74 Here we have an answer to the question “Whose security?” In this sense, we are speaking about the security of energy producers and consumers, and in turn, the security of the state, as the uninterrupted flow of energy products is very essential to the proper functioning of various systems As follows, “the development of open and competitive energy markets in our global economy is the key to the stability of international energy flows, and indeed to the assurance 67 Ibid. 68 The International Energy Charter. op. cit. 55, p. 44. 69 PETERS, op. cit. 65, p. 48. 70 “The European Charter Treaty is currently the only major multilateral treaty in the energy field and in terms of investment protection, the multilateral treaty with the largest geographical and country coverage […]. It is emerging as a significant international legal instrument providing protection for investment and the facilitation of trade and transit across a widening community of energy producing and consuming countries.” KONOPLYANIK, op. cit. 43, p. 526.

71 Ibid, p. 529. 72 Ibid, p. 530. 73 The International Energy Charter. op. cit. 55, p. 44. 74 KONOPLYANIK, op. cit. 43, p. 530.

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