Date and Place: 16 February 2023, online

With a view to harnessing the results of the recent Bulgarian Citizen Action Lab for the purposes of fostering local energy citizenship, the Center for the Study of Democracy, in collaboration with the Association of Danube River Municipalities ‘Danube‘, organised an expert stakeholder workshop with representatives of local, regional and national state institutions, civil society and the business sector. The participants discussed opportunities and barriers in regard to citizen participation in the energy system and the low-carbon energy transition. The event’s objective was to arrive at possible innovative solutions and policy recommendations for encouraging different forms of energy citizenship.

The lack of a clear regulatory framework to enable citizen to take part in the energy system was highlighted by the speakers. Citizens are rarely active participants in the process of designing energy policies and do not have sufficient access to information that could facilitate the formation of energy communities and the decentralization of energy production. An active role of citizens in energy generation and consumption is at the heart of the European Union’s Renewable Energy Directive (Directive (EU) 2018/2001) – which Bulgaria is yet to transpose into national legislation. The European Commission has referred the country to the Court of Justice for non-transposition of the Renewable Energy Directive and financial sanctions will likely be imposed unless the Bulgarian Government undertakes urgent measures to bring national law in accordance with the EU acquis.

Meaningful citizen participation in the sustainable energy transition has the potential to significantly contribute to achieving the transition goals. The absence in most Bulgarian municipalities of effective procedures, administrative capacity and information about good practices emerged in the discussion as the principle obstacles to energy citizenship. There is a pressing need for regulatory, administrative and financial incentives to encourage Bulgarian consumers to become actively engaged in effective energy production and energy use. There was consensus among the experts that the liberalisation of the energy market and the removal of administrative and regulatory barriers at the national and regional levels are essential in order to unlock the country’s potential for investments in small-scale RES systems.

The stakeholders also discussed the policy relevance of the findings of the DIALOGUES in-depth qualitative study on energy experts’ perspectives on local energy citizenship. Key solutions to the current challenges include: improving the regulatory framework for energy communities, supporting the decentralisation of the energy system, and implementing a coordinated information campaign to provide space for municipalities to share good examples of energy production from RES. The event placed a special focus on social groups which are vulnerable or marginalised from the perspective of the energy transition in Bulgaria – such as ethnic minorities, older people, energy poor households, and youth – and the ways in which their participation may be supported.

The results of the discussion will contribute to the forthcoming policy instruments and analyses to be developed within the framework of DIALOGUES.