site.btaEC to Assess Bulgaria’s Request to Revise Recovery and Resilience Plan

Bulgaria has requested a revision of its national Recovery and Resilience Plan (RRP), the European Commission said on Tuesday. The Commission noted it will review the request and submit it for evaluation by the EU Council.

On April 16, Bulgaria submitted a request to revise the plan, proposing the inclusion of three new reforms and four investments. The proposed changes concern the management of energy poverty and preparation for the liberalization of the retail energy market, increasing transparency in procedures for connecting new renewable capacities and storage, improving the operation of the balancing energy market, and facilitating the implementation of demand response measures, the statement reads.

The proposal includes investments in areas such as developing an information system for identifying energy-poor and vulnerable households, promoting the use of renewable energy and electric vehicles in the provision of social services, and deploying additional electricity storage by scaling up an existing investment. Bulgaria also proposes to remove or modify several measures in the plan, while maintaining its intent to retain the allocated RRP funds. The proposed changes are linked to objective circumstances that affect the feasibility of the originally planned measures, the Commission said.

Since some of the proposed changes relate to unresolved issues under the second payment request, on April 17 Bulgaria requested, in agreement with the EC, to withdraw the payment request in order to resubmit it after the revised plan is approved.

The EC will continue to work with Bulgarian authorities on the revision of the plan and will assess whether the proposed changes meet all requirements. If the evaluation is positive, the Commission will submit a proposal for an amended implementing decision to the EU Council. Member States will have four weeks to respond.

The Commission also recalled that Bulgaria’s Recovery and Resilience Plan includes investment and reform measures, funded with EUR 5.69 billion in grants.