FRIEDRICH-EBERT-STIFTUNG – INCLUSIVE ENERGY TRANSITION IN SOUTHEAST EUROPE because of political pressure. One of the interviewees points out that decision makers in Bosnia and Herzegovina are not familiar enough with foreign financial mechanisms for re­training workers. He thinks that the areas where surface mines were could be turned into agricultural land and that it is a pity that there are no plans for such a type of conversion and retraining of the workforce. 3. BULGARIA Awareness of inclusive energy transition Experts in Bulgaria agree that the principle‘ no one should be left behind’ describes the process of the inclusiveness of the energy transition the best for Bulgaria. But the partici­pants from the non-governmental sector also point out that the term is not well known among the public and that it still sounds like a political or strategic concept, which in this case does not mean that it does not apply. When asked about the presence of the term energy transi­tion in the public and political discourse, some of the inter­viewees said that the government exercises its obligation to hold public debates and they include different stakeholders in working groups. Formal barriers to and opportunities for inclusion Opinions about renewables differ. One interviewee states that Bulgaria has a high share of renewables in the energy mix due to traditionally strong hydropower generation and long experience with feed-in tariffs to push investments in solar facilities. On the other hand, renewables are in the opinion of some of the interviewees a good indicator of po­litical corruption – most of the solar power plants are owned by politicians. As a good example, an interviewee cites in­vestments in geothermal and in heat pumps, but also men­tions that biomass is still considered renewable even though it raises sustainability concerns. Another participant points out that there is still too much solid biofuel in the energy mix and that Bulgaria lacks more ambitious technologies. The problem of energy consumption should be handled through measures for energy efficiency. According to one of our interviewees, existing energy efficiency measures tend to be limited to the replacement of windows and door frames. One of the interviewees mentioned that an Europe­an Bank for Reconstruction and Development-financed pro­ject which was initially inefficient in its first phase was made more efficient in its second phase with the help of civil soci­ety experts. They included photovoltaics and solar water heaters and applied the programme to a larger group of homeowners. Another interviewee thinks that the schemes for performance certificates were not ambitious and that policymakers have to be braver in the implementation of soft measures. Our participants remarked that the COV­ID-19 pandemic slowed down the implementation of the 2015 nearly zero-energy building plan. Talking about the pandemic, interviewees from NGOs have been active in ad­vocating for a redesign of the recovery plan to include high employment potential and green jobs. Interviewees stated that the liberalisation of the market is ongoing. The energy exchange was set up, but there is a lot of manipulation with the prices of nuclear energy, prear­ranged deals and, most importantly, a limited number of market participants. The prices are still heavily regulated by the state. The gas distribution network should evolve, and the share of retail energy should grow. Two interviewees think that the transposition of the Renewable Energy Direc­tive should give more power to prosumers. Our stakeholders say that the inclusive energy transition was not present in the discourse around the elections.‘I can re­call only one recent comment from our prime minister after a meeting in Brussels saying that we should be helped more than the other countries to transition from coal’, says an NGO interviewee. Another points out the same problem and adds that he does not expect a healthy change because the(now former) opposition is a former communist party and they are going along with Russian interests. Some of the interviewees think that 2030 should be made the year for the phase-out and that funds available through the EU budget should be used to create concrete plans for this. The participants stressed that there are some possibilities for the economy to benefit from an inclusive energy transition. Making up 45 per cent of the GDP, Bulgaria’s industrial sec­tor has a huge potential. The companies that are producing car components for Western Europe should evolve towards producing the parts for plants that generate electricity from RES. One stakeholder points out that Bulgaria has a devel­oped industry for biomass furnaces. According to him, the Bulgarian government is subsidising this industry and it is al­so promoting biomass as one of the renewable energy sources. At the same time, according to him, the govern­ment is not doing much on subsidising investments in solar or wind – since they would need to import components for building solar or wind farms. One of the stakeholders states that the possibilities for funding are diverse and that there is already a plan for the new financial period. And yet, the au­thorities are still focused on coal and nuclear energy. Energy poverty ‘Our advocacy work includes the development of the legal definition of energy poverty’, says an NGO participant. Bul­garia has a high share of people who cannot keep their homes warm and even more of those who cannot cool them. Almost half of the population is at risk of energy pov­erty in Bulgaria. Civil sector participants think that the prob­lem is not handled properly and that the government only proclaims that this issue is of high importance. The Ministry of Labour and Social Policies is tackling this problem with social measures – financial support for food and coal – and 66