site.btaParliament Passes First-Reading Revisions to Climate Change Mitigation Act

Bulgaria’s Parliament voted, 124-13 with 15 abstentions, to adopt at first reading amendments to the Climate Change Mitigation Act. The revisions, submitted by the Council of Ministers, aim to transpose several EU directives. The vote took place after three quorum checks. 

The bill, initially included in the 2024 EU Action Plan, has been rescheduled for the 2025 Plan after not being adopted this year, according to the sponsor.

The proposed amendments transpose Directive (EU) 2023/959, establishing a new emissions trading scheme for the transport and buildings sectors and referencing the Social Climate Fund, which supports Member States' social climate plans. The emissions trading scheme have been extended to cover maritime transport emissions, which must be monitored, reported, and verified. The objective is to promote the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions in a cost-effective and economically efficient way.

Directive (EU) 2023/958 will introduce key reforms in the aviation sector. Starting in 2026, free emission allowances for aviation will be gradually eliminated to ensure the sector contributes more equitably to environmental objectives. These measures aim to encourage the adoption of more sustainable fuels.

The bill establishes national measures to implement three EU regulations.

The bill also sets a long-term national goal to achieve climate neutrality and net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 at the latest, in accordance with the Paris Agreement and Regulation (EU) 2021/1119.

During the debates, Energy Minister Zhecho Stankov and Continue the Change – Democratic Bulgaria’s Radoslav Ribarski clashed over the energy policy of the current government and that applied by the 2021-2022 cabinet of Kiril Petkov, then leader of Continue the Change.

Prior to that, Ribarski said that while the amendments discussed in the debating chamber might appear to be technical adjustments aimed at harmonizing domestic law with EU law, they introduce a strategic decision affecting the entire energy sector and a revision of the entire emissions trading framework. CC-DB’s Tatyana Sultanova said that while her parliamentary group supports the green transition, the objectives of the law, and social justice, they would abstain from voting because they "do not accept that the management of funds should be centralized and in the interests of foreign interests." She noted that the green transformation is an opportunity to promote balanced regional development and protect vulnerable groups. In her words, control over the funds is currently concentrated in the hands of a single ministry and one deputy prime minister.

Andrey Tchorbanov of There Is Such a People dismissed the bill altogether, saying that voting on it was like "voting on a law to preserve gravity." "The climate will not change because of this law, so the Green Deal is meaningless," he noted. 

Krasimira Katincharova of Velichie reminded Stankov that the parameters of the Green Deal had been set by GERB, and they must bear the responsibility of a number of governments whether they like it or not. Velichie ultimately rejected the bill, with Katincharova saying, "The Bulgarian energy sector is cannibalizing itself."