The European Commission has launched new legal steps against several EU countries over energy-related obligations, including continued participation in the Energy Charter Treaty and gaps in applying EU rules on renewables and methane, according to its latest infringement decisions.
The Commission said on Friday it had sent letters of formal notice to 16 member states that remain contracting parties to the Energy Charter Treaty after the EU and Euratom withdrew from it on 28 June 2025.
The countries named were Belgium, Bulgaria, Czechia, Estonia, Ireland, Greece, Croatia, Cyprus, Latvia, Hungary, Malta, Austria, Romania, Slovakia, Finland and Sweden.
The Energy Charter Treaty governs trade and investment relations in the energy sector between its contracting parties.
The Commission added that trade and investment fall under the EU’s exclusive competence, meaning Member States may only act if the Union empowers them to do so.
The Commission said the 16 countries had not received such empowerment and had not taken steps to withdraw, giving them two months to respond.
If the replies are not satisfactory, the Commission may move to the next stage of the process by issuing a reasoned opinion.
Renewables permitting and methane enforcement
An additional reasoned opinion was also sent to France for failing to fully transpose parts of the revised Renewable Energy Directive into national law, the Commission said.
The provisions at issue relate to simplifying and speeding up permitting — the approvals needed to build renewable energy projects and the infrastructure required to connect them to the electricity system — and had to be transposed by 1 July 2024.
France now has two months to respond and complete the transposition, and the Commission said it could refer the case to the Court of Justice of the European Union and request financial sanctions if the issues are not addressed.
Separately, reasoned opinions were sent to Bulgaria and Austria over the EU Methane Regulation after they failed to appoint and notify a competent authority responsible for monitoring and enforcing the rules.
Member states had to provide the names and contact details of those authorities by 5 February 2025, giving both countries two months to respond before the Commission considers any referral to the EU’s top court.
