site.btaContinue the Change Will Support Recovery and Resilience Plan Legislation, Says Co-Chair Vassilev

In response to Deputy Prime Minister Tomislav Donchev's statement that Bulgaria will attempt to save as much of the second payment under the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (NRRP) as possible, Continue the Change (CC) Co-Chair Asen Vassilev said that his party will fully support the legislation outlined in the NRRP. Vassilev was speaking to journalists in Parliament on Thursday. 

“We have tabled these bills [required under the NRRP] in the National Assembly as well, but they have not been allocated to the corresponding committees for consideration,” said Vassilev. He criticized the idea that, out of fear of judicial reforms in the NRRP, the entire Bulgarian public and business community are being told to give up EUR 10 billion. He argued that it would not be so difficult to save the second payment and implement the NRRP.

The CC Co-Chair dismissed claims that the issue lies in the energy sector, pointing out that the energy roadmap must be adopted to show that the required reforms in the NRRP for this sector were already completed in 2024. He underscored that the 40% reduction in carbon emissions from electricity production, as outlined in the NRRP, were already achieved last year, without closing any thermal power plants.

Vassilev also commented on GERB's sudden focus on geothermal energy in Bulgaria, recalling that a National Assembly resolution of 2023 banned the government from continuing geothermal projects. Now, he noted, it has suddenly become a priority.

He clarified that if they truly want to secure the second payment from the plan, Parliament must adopt the legislation specified by the European Commission.

Instead of spending the entire day on a declaration, these laws could have been passed on first reading, and within two or three weeks, the second reading could have been completed, allowing the payment to proceed, Vassilev added.

He stressed that the funds are included in the current draft budget being reviewed. If the funds won't be available, the 2025 State Budget Bill should be withdrawn and redrafted. Vassilev explained that the Budget and Finance Committee did not support the current version of the budget because it has serious issues, especially with its macroeconomic structure. One major problem is that it takes on much more debt than necessary, he added.