Date and place: 27 March 2024 – Sofia, Bulgaria
Za Zemiata organized a forum emphasizing the importance of voting in the European Parliament elections with representatives from various political parties. There were 9 panelists from 5 political parties, some of them Members of the National Assembly. The forum started with findings from the Beyond Profit and No Recovery without citizens reports. The forum aimed to provide insights into each party’s vision regarding priorities, challenges, necessary steps, and allocation of resources within the next mandate of the European institutions.
Key topics included Bulgaria’s challenges in green transformation, compliance with the European legislation, and efficient utilization of the European funds. The questions that the panelists addressed were:
- Bulgaria has a high percentage of energy-poor households and extremely low levels of building renovation. What would you propose as actions to solve these problems and where would you direct the EU funds if you become part of the new European Parliament?
- Bulgaria ranks first in the EU for waste per capita and last in the EU for resource productivity. Where should European public money be directed to help move from a linear to a circular economy?
- A significant proportion of Bulgarians suffer from problems related to polluted air in their settlements and some settlements regularly top the charts for the most toxic air in Europe. In your opinion, what measures are needed at European level and in what direction should public funds be directed to tackle this problem?
- European funds provide opportunities for green transformation, but for example halfway through the operational period of the Recovery and Resilience plan, only 3% of the green pillar is implemented. How would you guarantee the effective and transparent use of the European public funds for green transition purposes?
- What is your vision for the implementation of European legislation in Bulgaria, e.g. – delay of renewable energy directive and definition of energy poverty, the lack of control on the directive on reducing the impact of certain plastic products? Do you think this poor implementation could compromise the European funds targeted to tackle the climate crisis?
- The overall financial co-benefits for Bulgaria of an ambitious energy transition are estimated at €7.6 billion or 9.2% of GDP for 2022 (with significant health benefits), which is the second highest in the EU-27 after Slovakia. In the context of the debate on the benefits of the Green Deal, how would you defend timely climate action?
The discussions revealed that there is a need for investments not only in technical solutions, but also in improving the human resource capacity in the administration to ensure effective public funds management and reforms implementation. Also, what was emphasised was that the public has not been actively engaged in the decision-making process and good practices from central Europe were shared. Questions from the public were related to the support of EU Nature restoration law, renewables outside the Natura 2000 areas, reaching EU targets on waste management and how the panelists would communicate the energy transition in their campaigns, especially in a debate with Eurosceptics. The panelists highlighted the economic, climate and health benefits of following the ambitious climate and energy transition plans.
The event was attended by 39 participants coming from media, industry, civil sector, and local administration.
Presentation from the forum is available here.
