The European Commission’s plan to limit global warming and make Europe a carbon-neutral continent by 2050, on the basis of the Paris Agreement, or the Green Deal, is not something the trade unions in Bulgaria are welcoming. They say that the new European policies will have a disastrous effect on sectors like transport, agriculture, mining. Despite assurances by parliament that the country will keep its coal-fired power stations, trade unions and employers have expressed reservations with regard to the measures set down in the EU Green Deal.

The unfavourable for Bulgaria terms under the agreement were discussed at a meeting between the trade unions and Energy Minister Temenuzhka Petkova who stressed that Bulgaria will protect the interests of the coal industry.

In the integrated Climate-Energy plan we have developed we have clearly indicated that until 2030, with a time horizon up until 2050, Bulgaria will continue to rely on its coal-fired power stations, Minister Petkova commented.

The condition under which the EU will approve the extension of state aid for the thermal power stations is that households gradually enter the free electricity market. In the words of Dimitar Manolov, President of Podkrepa confederation of labour, the upcoming liberalization of the electricity market means a rise in the price of electricity, with the price of electricity in Bulgaria being among the highest in Europe already. There is no way to make the price of electricity the same for everyone given that salaries in Bulgaria are the lowest in the EU, Dimitar Manolov stressed. On his part Plamen Dimitrov, President of the Confederation of Independent Trade Unions in Bulgaria described the Green Deal as unrealistic against the background of the 9 percent harmful greenhouse gases released in the EU as against the carbon emissions in the rest of the world.

The truth is that it is all up to USA and China. So far America has invariably ignored European green rules. On its part China intends to invest in the use of renewable sources but compared to the enormous consumption they are no solution to the problem. The rest of Asia and Africa are also advancing towards a coal-based industrialization.

Bulgaria will continue to use its coal-fired power stations up until 2030 because they form the basis of the country’s energy system. On the other hand if we decide to restrict their use that would not do much to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in Europe because Turkey, Serbia and North Macedonia will continue to use coal. They have no commitment to reduce their emissions and do not buy carbon credits yet we all breathe the same air. As Energy Minister Temenuzhka Petkova said this entails a risk to Bulgaria’s economy as Turkey in practice produces cheaper energy.

Experts, on the other hand are warning that by force of the Green Deal the price of energy may soar. And this means that every industry which needs a lot of energy will be rendered utterly uncompetitive if it is based in Europe. The effect would be a drastic impoverishment of the population.

That is why the Bulgarian TUs take a firm stand – Bulgaria must not accept a reduction of carbon emissions above the current 45 percent.

The money from carbon emissions trading of over 1 billion 100 million Leva annually must continue to fuel Bulgarian energy security and should, under no circumstances, be pumped into a common European fund.

Edited by Darina Grigorova