Bulgaria seeks to change EU-funded recovery plan over coal

SOFIA, Bulgaria (AP) — Bulgaria’s Parliament is demanding that the country’s government renegotiate the energy part of an EU-funded post-pandemic recovery plan, to save the country’s coal-fired power plants from closure. Lawmakers on Thursday voted 187-2 with nine abstentions to approve a revision of the plan, which is key to receiving 6.3 billion euros in EU funding from the bloc’s post-COVID recovery stimulus package. Under the decision, the government will have to move away from its commitment to make 40% cuts in its 2019 level of carbon emission by the end of 2025 and will seek guarantees that coal plants can continue operating without restrictions at least until 2038.