Pathways for Just Transitions in South East Europe

Policy comments    |    14 December 2020

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This policy paper is a companion piece to “Accelerated Lignite Exit in Bulgaria, Romania and Greece”, a report published in May 2020 modelling the impact of the early retirement of some coal and all lignite power plants in the electricity sector in the three countries.

After taking measures to reduce the spread of COVID-19, the European Union member states agreed to dedicate significant resources in order to support economic recovery. Among them, a reinforcement to the Just Transition Fund, bringing it to EUR 40 billion after the initial allocation of EUR 7.5 billion. After the Platform for Coal Regions in Transition became active in 2018, there was a concentrated effort in the EU in order to identify redevelopment solutions as coal loses its importance. It therefore makes sense that as countries address the need to reinforce their economies and to recover from COVID, they bear in mind the particular needs of carbon intensive regions.