The Committee on Energy declared against a proposal of the BSP that the government change the RSP in the energy part

At an extraordinary meeting, the Energy Committee of the National Assembly rejected the proposal for a draft decision obliging the Council of Ministers to present a report on the actions taken and the results achieved in implementation of the Decision of the National Assembly of January 12, 2023 to oblige the Council of Ministers to change the Recovery and Sustainability Plan in the energy part and to approve the territorial plans for a just transition only after consultation with the social partners. The proposal was submitted by Cornelia Ninova, Georgi Gyokov, Kostadin Kostadinov, Yordan Todorov, Toshko Yordanov, Alexander Valchev, Ivaylo Valchev, Dragomir Stoynev and Ivan Ivanov.

The extraordinary meeting was held during the interruption of work in the plenary hall, when the debate on the Law on Energy from Renewable Energy Sources (LERES) was underway.

During the extraordinary session, BSP MP Dragomir Stoynev commented on the erroneously prepared territorial plans. This, as he explained, happened as a result of the abdication of the state through the transfer of responsibility to consulting firms of the Recovery and Sustainability Plan (RSP). Stoynev took the position that Bulgaria's energy sector was among the most competitive until recently. He reminded that until recently the production of electricity in our country supplied the Balkans and compared it with the current situation. In this regard, he called for a discussion of the territorial plans for a just transition with the social partners, reasoning that thousands of households linked to the energy and coal mining sectors are affected, who will be left without a livelihood.

"Stop scaring people with Brussels," he said, commenting on concerns that today is the deadline to submit territorial plans for a just transition. Moreover, Stoynev called on the Minister of Energy Rumen Radev to come to the parliament and share his opinion on the future of Bulgarian energy. "In my opinion, this Plan for recovery and sustainability in the energy sector cannot be voted on, because no one knows what exactly is written in it," Stoinev was categorical.

Radoslav Ribarski (PP-DB) explained that another postponement of the adoption of the Recovery and Sustainability Plan in the energy sector will leave Bulgaria without territorial plans for a just transition. He argues that if the territorial plans are not submitted now, "the people who are in danger of being left on the street, in a few months will not have the financial support that the Plan (RSP) offers". Referring to a meeting with social partners, but without identifying them, Ribarski expressed an expectation that if the plan is voted on today, by the end of the year Bulgaria will know what funds it will rely on. According to him, otherwise, with a new postponement, resources will be exhausted and investment interest will be repelled.

The Deputy Minister of Energy Krasimir Nenov, who was also present at the meeting in response to a question, commented that during the summer months analyzes and modeling were done at the request of the European Commission (EC) to be included in the updated territorial plans. Analyzes have suggested a higher ambition for RES as a search for an alternative to limit harmful emissions to 40%. That is, an equivalent effect of RES at the expense of emissions.

A series of meetings were held in Pernik, Kyustendil with all interested parties, meetings were also held with social partners, all points of view were heard and taken into account, he said.

In the end, the BSP's proposal for RSP was not supported by the members of the Energy Commission of the National Assembly. However, there remained the possibility of entering the agenda until the end of the work of the National Assembly as a separate item.