Frans Timmermans: The EC will analyze the Bulgarian Recovery Plan in the coming months

In the coming months, the Bulgarian Recovery and Sustainability Plan will be analyzed by the European Commission. We will look at this plan carefully, we know what serious challenges there are for Bulgaria's energy sector. This was announced by Frans Timmermans, Executive Vice President of the European Commission responsible for the European Green Pact during the international conference "Green Transition - Solutions and Challenges for Bulgaria", organized by DIR.BG and 3eNews.

Timmermans said the goal is to turn the challenges facing the energy sector into successful smooth transition measures. Timmermans was adamant that the EC's goal is for the transition in all EU coal regions to be fair and for no one to be forgotten.

The Vice President of the European Commission was adamant that we live in a serious crisis, there are problems everywhere, referring to natural disasters. Even in the Czech Republic, there was a recent tornado that hadn't happened in a long time, he explained. This is due to an increase in the planet's temperature by 1 degree Celsius. "What if we reach 3 or 4 degrees warming?" Timmermans asked rhetorically. According to him, we must take care of the salvation of humanity and this is the main idea of ​​the Green Deal.

But then came the coronavirus crisis, and now we need to rebuild our economies.

Adapting to new circumstances is not easy, but Europe must do it quickly. If we continue to procrastinate, the climate crisis will not be able to be controlled, Timmermans added. This leads to the idea that the Green Deal should also be a recovery process for future generations, because we have to invest huge sums in future generations. "It is good that Europe is putting the money in the right place, we are talking about 1.3 trillion euro ", the expert explained. The EC has made an analysis that if we invest in a new way in new initiatives, then the debt that will be generated can be easily repaid.

This is very difficult because the plan now requires countries to change their economies. They have worked like this for the last 200 years. "Everything is based on fossil fuels. But now we want to move on to renewables. We are not saying that we can get fossil fuels out of the energy mix tomorrow. A transition is needed in which coal is initially replaced by natural gas. Nuclear energy will also play a major role. But step by step we have to get to a point where the economy, the growth, the well-being of the people, does not depend on fossil fuels, but on renewable sources, "Timmermans said.

The good news is that renewables are getting cheaper every day. And this increase in electricity prices, which we see at the moment, is entirely due to the increase in demand in the last 25 years, the fact that during the corona crisis some productions were closed and a number of capacity maintenance activities were postponed. But at the same time the price of renewable energy remains constant and constantly low. However, fossil fuels are fluctuating, and we strive to provide a low and constant price of energy for our citizens, "Timmermans explained at the conference.

According to him, the only question now is how to create a better future for the coal regions in Europe. We have 30 such regions in the EU. "They all already know that their long-term future cannot be tied to coal mining. We need better jobs, social and economic development, which creates tensions in such regions, "Timmermans added. According to him, workers in the field of coal mining should be trained and retrained.

In Bulgaria you have great brain potential. Bulgarians work in the IT industry in key positions in the world and you have the potential to attract such jobs. See what is happening in the automotive industry - Bulgaria already plays a serious role there. We also see a huge opportunity in electric mobility. The beauty of this country! Huge opportunities are hidden in the tourism industry. So I'm an optimist! ”Timmermans finished.