Bulgaria's Maritsa-Iztok unions call for review of EU emissions trading
KNSB unions urge President Yotova and Prime Minister Radev to adopt a joint position: a tonne of CO2 costs 88.36 euros, about 17.2 percent more than at the start of the year.
Archive image · Photo: Emilio.turturro / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped and resized)
Unions of the KNSB confederation at Bulgaria's Maritsa-Iztok energy complex have called for a single national position seeking a fundamental review of the EU Emissions Trading System (ETS). In an appeal released on Thursday to President Iliana Yotova and Prime Minister Rumen Radev, they demand changes to the way carbon allowance prices are set. According to the unions, a tonne of CO2 now costs 88.36 euros, about 17.2 percent more than at the start of the year, which makes it difficult for coal-fired plants to operate.
The unions are calling for special mechanisms and derogations for coal capacity needed for energy security, as well as for member states to keep the right to use their own energy resources. They ask the president to back a national consensus and the prime minister to immediately have a position drawn up with state institutions, energy companies, unions, employers and experts. The Energy Ministry should also prepare an expert analysis with quantitative estimates of the costs, risks and consequences of different scenarios.
The unions argue that the complex provides jobs in the region and capacity the country relies on during outages, low renewable output and market crises, and that local lignite reduces import dependence. They cite Eurostat data showing that real GDP in the Southeast region fell 20.5 percent between 2019 and 2024, while the EU economy grew 5.6 percent. The pace of the coal phase-out must match the availability of replacement capacity, they said. In early September, miners at Mini Maritsa-Iztok had already opposed a restructuring of the sector proposed by the Energy Ministry.