The Green Pact – an ambitious strategy with a multi-layered application

The Green Deal (or Green Pact), proposed by the European Commission at the end of 2019 as the new growth strategy of the European Union, has won many supporters, but not a little criticism and outright opposition.

In this overview, we, the representatives of the DPP in the EP, members of the Renew Europe group, present our view on the Green Deal and its multi-layered application to make it a workable growth strategy. We are convinced supporters of the Green Pact and are adamant that it provides enormous opportunities for the development of Bulgaria, provided that our country succeeds in developing its national strategies, plans, work programs and, above all, unites around a national goal for an accelerated catch-up development.

The Green Deal is a strategic plan for the development of the European Union for the next 7, even 30 years and a basis for the work of the European Commission. It has become a complex strategy for the transformation and construction of a low-carbon economy, of production based on the sparing use of resources and the circular economy, of innovation and digitalization. It brings together in one focused effort, the technological achievements of recent years, with the expected innovative solutions and with the desire of European citizens to be involved in the prevention of climate change and the common European support for technological, production and social changes that will affect everyone's life European.

At the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, in the first half of 2020, some member states with more conservative, populist or reform-averse governance expected the Green Deal to be put on the back burner and its ambitious goals postponed due to the growing health crisis, the hesitant role of the European Union in the first months and the expectations of an economic crisis with unclear parameters. Unfortunately, Bulgaria was among these member countries and allowed itself to lose valuable time for the preparation of reforms, transformations and strategic planning of the national transition within the framework of the Green Pact. This mistake of the Bulgarian government will cost us dearly. Valuable time was missed and our country must catch up in the preparation and coordination of strategic documents, in a year of parliamentary and presidential elections.

In 2020, the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union made enormous efforts to build the instruments for the implementation of the Green Pact. Negotiations have been completed on most of the funds and programs that will implement the framework and guarantee investments for recovery and transformation, together with the Recovery and Resilience Facility, from the common rules for the Structural Funds and the European Regional and Social Fund to programs such as Horizon Europe and the European defense fund, Erasmus and Just Transition Mechanism.

In parallel with these efforts, the European Commission guarantees the application of the Green Deal by presenting almost all initiatives, legislative acts and proposals that complement the original proposal, saturate the legislative picture and fill with real solutions the intentions and ambitions of the project: Investment Plan for Sustainable Europe, Just Transition Mechanism, Climate Act, New European Industrial Strategy, Circular Economy Action Plan, Farm to Fork Strategy, Biodiversity Strategy, Energy System Integration Strategy, Hydrogen Strategy , Remediation Wave Methane Strategy Chemicals Sustainability Strategy EU Strategy to Harness the Climate Neutral Potential of Marine Renewable Energy Digital Services and Digital Markets Legislation European Bauhaus Initiative.

The listing is not exhaustive, but it gives a picture of the vast and wide-ranging matter that fills the Green Deal proposal with concrete content and turns it into the EU's Growth Strategy for the next decade. On all these and other proposals, the EP responded with clear positions and legislative decisions.

The expectation is that 2021 will be the year in which we will receive the responses and proposals of the Member States. National recovery and resilience plans, just transition plans for regions in transition, operational programs supported by structural and cohesion funds, informal national plans for participation in EU horizontal programs must be prepared, agreed and agreed.

One of the main areas covered by the Green Deal is energy.

Already in 2018 and 2019, member states were expected to complete work on national energy and climate plans. Again, we regret to note that the delay of the Bulgarian plan leads only to losses and the impossibility to build working links and coordination between the instruments that could support the reforms and the transition to low-carbon in the first stage and carbon-free energy in the future. The package of legislative and strategic proposals of the EC and the positions of the EP cover the issues of prevention of climate change, the decarbonization of energy production, the diversification of energy sources, the gradual reduction of the use of fossil fuels, including natural gas, to their complete exclusion from the energy mix on the territory of Europe, increasing the energy efficiency of industrial production with a minimal carbon footprint, high energy efficiency of the building stock, targeted investments for the development of hydrogen technologies, expanding the share of renewable energy sources and expanding technologies for their implementation, including and the storage of renewable energy.

The production of hydrogen and its application in industry, energy, transport is on the agenda of the member states and of the EU as a general policy. The hydrogen strategy proposed by the EC poses many questions, the answer to which lies in technological development, which even countries with Germany's potential see in cooperation with other member states. The opportunities for Bulgaria are great if it joins in time and decisively in the cooperation processes in the development of hydrogen technologies and strategies for the application of hydrogen, as the main element of the green transformation.

A complex element of the implementation of the Green Deal for energy efficiency is the renovation wave - an initiative that implies a sharp increase in the number of energy efficient buildings in Europe, within the next 10 years, with the prospect of the process continuing until 2050. Renovation of public - state and municipal, multi-family and single-family residential buildings is planned. The building stock is one of the active consumers of energy and has a footprint of around 36% of hydrogen emissions in Europe. Increasing energy efficiency through renovation combines the use of modern recycled materials, innovative digital-based technologies, a sharp increase in the number of people employed in construction due to the volume of work and an increase in their professional qualifications, the development of innovative small and medium-sized enterprises in construction, ensuring digital management of the energy efficiency of buildings and passporting of the building stock for long-term and efficient management. We already know that 90% of the existing building stock in Europe will still be functional in 2050. Investments in its renovation guarantee the achievement of climate-neutral energy efficiency management goals in a 30-year period. Bulgaria is one of the countries with a building stock with low energy efficiency. Our country is lagging behind in the passporting of buildings and the opportunities of the renovation wave are of huge importance for the construction sector, but also for local authorities and property owners. Expectations are towards the National Plan for Recovery and Sustainability.

An important element of the Green Deal for Bulgaria and other EU member states dependent on fossil fuels and especially coal is the Just Transition Mechanism, which has the ambition to support regions in transition to green solutions. The two components of the Mechanism - the Just Transition Fund and the Municipal Credit Facility have clear objectives and enable measured, balanced solutions for technological change, social security and flexible investments of local authorities.

In coordination with the National Recovery and Resilience Plan, the plans of the regions in transition could ensure a smooth green transition for the regions in Bulgaria. Management effort is needed, clear messages to those working in the mining industry and thermal power plants are needed, management self-confidence and vision are needed. Only under these conditions will the Just Transition Mechanism play its role in the overall context of the Green Deal.

The latest and at first sight unclear initiative of the EC to realize the Green Deal is the New European Bauhaus. This is not a fund or program, there are no developed application forms, no indicators and no governing bodies. It is an initiative that has the ambition to contribute to changing the living environment of European citizens, in line with their concern for climate change, the sparing use of natural resources, the circular economy, the protection of biological diversity. An initiative that aims to bring the Green Deal closer to everyday life - as values, philosophy, technology and culture.

At the center of the European Green Deal are the Biodiversity Strategy and the Farm-to-Fork Strategy, as well as financial instruments to facilitate the smooth transition. Of course, the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) is directly related to the Green Pact. The key is achieving a balance between nature and food production systems, protecting the health and well-being of people living in the EU and increasing the competitiveness and sustainability of the Union.

The 2030 Biodiversity Strategy aims to strengthen Europe's resilience by halting biodiversity loss and building a healthy and sustainable food system. The aim is to make biodiversity considerations an integral part of the EU's overall strategy for economic growth. The strategy proposes to set binding targets to restore damaged ecosystems, improve the health of protected habitats and species in the EU, return pollinators to farmland, reduce pollution, green our cities, improve organic farming and the state of European forests.

The ambition to accelerate the transition to a sustainable food system in the EU is part of the "Farm to Fork" strategy and aims to ensure a neutral or positive impact on the environment and help mitigate and adapt to climate change. In addition, the envisaged measures should prevent the loss of biodiversity and ensure food security and public health. Everyone should have access to sufficient, safe, nutritious food produced in a sustainable manner. Moreover, it also aims to preserve food affordability while generating a fairer economic return..

However, achieving a balance between the individual pillars of sustainability - ecological, economic and social - is essential for Bulgaria. All actions taken should also follow the idea of ​​increasing the income of farmers, guaranteeing food security and providing the necessary support to the sectors and people who have to make significant investments to achieve the desired green transition. We want to ensure that the strategies do not create additional burdens for farmers, nor lead to a reduction in agricultural production in the EU, which in turn would increase our dependence on third countries.

Climate change threatens food production, and farmers are taking this fact into account and have already made a number of changes in this direction. The key role of the CAP in the protection and promotion of agricultural land biodiversity should also be emphasized. The green architecture components of the CAP also have great potential to encourage farmers to take additional action to combat climate change – the intended individual and collective incentives for the transition to more sustainable agricultural food production systems.

An assessment of the financial impact of the Strategy on farmers, especially small farmers, including family farms and SMEs, is also needed. Achieving the goals inevitably requires significant investment at the farm level, which may prove prohibitive for small producers. An example of this is access to modern technologies and the digitization of farms. This requires ensuring adequate access to financing.

It is necessary to promote scientific research and to develop digitization and innovation. Measures should be carefully selected and be voluntary or mandatory. It is essential to ensure good coordination between all strategies and programs affecting agriculture and food chains, and to take into account the specific conditions in all Member States as well as the measures they have already taken.

Sustainable management of water resources requires providing more support opportunities to build effective and efficient irrigation systems. Responsibility for achieving the targets requires that it be shared among all participants in the food production and supply chain, and not focused primarily on farmers.

Making clean foods a priority requires greater support for organic farming, as well as a targeted campaign to promote, among society, the importance and need for diverse, nutritious and clean food. Special attention should be paid to food availability. Still a huge share of the population cannot afford quality food. The increase in production costs will inevitably affect the price of the final product. The success of the transition to a sustainable model also depends to a large extent on the users. It is important that they can make an informed choice regarding the quality and nutritional value of individual food products. In this process, it is necessary to take into account the specificities of the countries in terms of labeling and to avoid imposing a model that will put traditional national products in a less favorable position. There is a need to emphasize measures to limit the waste of food and food products throughout the chain of production, supply and consumption.

A strategic goal is the development of a modern, diverse agricultural sector, with care for nature and people. Key to achieving this goal is ensuring coherence between policies and instruments, taking into account existing legislation and developing long-term plans based on realistic targets.

National CAP strategic plans should provide adequate financial support and incentives to promote new sustainable business models for agriculture and traditional food production, including by promoting short supply chains and quality food production. CAP financial support is crucial for farmers to meet increasing environmental standards, but will not be sufficient for farmers to achieve the goals set out in the two strategies. It is necessary that they are accompanied by additional, adequate, measures and means of support.

Innovation is a key driver of sustainable growth and environmentally sustainable agriculture with increased productivity and profitability. The strategies must be built on a strong European commitment to promote research and the development of innovative solutions and technologies in key areas such as digitalisation, precision agriculture, safer effective and efficient plant protection products, fertilization and veterinary medicines.

For Europe to be a leader in modern agriculture, with care for farmers and the environment, it must also build platforms for cooperation, exchange of knowledge, experience, innovation and technology, with the active participation of all stakeholders.

Europe's pursuit of growth and ensuring an ecologically clean environment free of harmful greenhouse gases affects all spheres of activity. The planned and targeted changes cover all sectors of the economy, but they will have a particular impact on industry, energy, agriculture, urban planning and transport. Undoubtedly, the employment of the population will be one of the important priorities of the Union, for which significant financial resources will be allocated.

The ambitious drive for Europe to become the world's first climate-neutral continent by 2050 poses questions of fundamental importance to social employment policy. Certainly, the Green Deal can be seen as a historic opportunity to revolutionize the economy and an unprecedented opportunity to introduce digitization in almost every field of work. But, on the other hand, the fact that this pact puts the industry in a number of countries of the Union to a severe test cannot be ignored. Investments in climate protection require a long planning period because they involve the introduction of new production processes and new products. In this connection, political stability is important not only on a national but also on a European scale.

The Green Deal aims to implement a very ambitious economic transition and build a new, different EU. It should be noted the original continuity and sharing of ideas both by the citizens of many countries in the European Union and by developed business organizations and financial institutions. The motivation of these supporters is the expectation that green technologies, together with digital technologies, will be decisive in shaping markets by the middle of this century, and those who adopt them first will have an undeniable advantage. Despite this support, however, the question of the necessary financial resources and speed to achieve such goals is key. With this in mind, the EU declares its intention not to allow a deepening of social inequality, but to put into practice the principle of "leaving no one behind", which we support.

A just social transition is a challenge in the context of the ecological transition and the digitalization of the economy, economic diversification and transformation of business models. The European Pillar of Social Rights aims to ensure fairness in the everyday life of every citizen, regardless of whether they are studying, working, looking for work or retired; whether he lives in a city or a rural area; regardless of sex, race or ethnic origin, religion or belief, physical or mental disability, age or sexual orientation.

In addition to efforts to combat inequalities, the labor market also requires special attention. The creation of a qualified and sustainable workforce, ready for the transition to a green and digital economy, requires investments in education, training, qualifications, retraining. Skills are key for the future. With increasingly frequent job changes and flexible working patterns, there is a constant need for people to learn and keep learning. Estimates are that half of the current workforce will need to upskill within the next five years. Education and training are key to skills. We are calling for a change in the national education and training system to provide inclusive, high quality education and training. One of the priorities of the European Pillar of Social Rights will be the implementation of an updated European Skills Agenda.

Mitigating the consequences of the deteriorating demographic picture across Europe can be achieved by implementing an integrated approach based on a combination of policy decisions in the fields of pensions, social security, long-term care, health systems, social inclusion, education and childcare.

European SMEs are all around us: there are around 24 million of them and together they represent approximately 99% of all companies in the EU. Over the years, they have provided the vast majority of new jobs and European societies rely on them to a significant extent. The importance of our SMEs has always been recognised, but Covid-19 has made us realize how vital they are, especially in the context of the crisis, which has put a huge number of SMEs in a precarious financial position: many of them have had to close their doors and millions of jobs places are still at risk. Improving access to finance for SMEs was important even before the crisis, but now it has become crucial for their survival.

The increase in climate targets by 2030 will include in-depth impact assessments and will go hand-in-hand with the EU's decarbonisation fund, supporting SMEs in their transition to climate-neutral business models, while the Just Transition Fund will be expanded and for SMEs in regions heavily dependent on fossil fuel production, such as the municipality of Galabovo, to become competitive again.

We should also not forget that SMEs are at the center of the twin transition to a green and digital Europe and are a vital source of creativity and innovation, in other words contributing to Europe's future sustainable development. One thing is certain: our start-ups, entrepreneurs and SMEs will be at the heart of the recovery.

The overarching strategy of the Green Deal offers a huge range of opportunities, although some key actions are unlikely to be suitable for SMEs. Despite the EU's desire to step up its "climate diplomacy" at international level to achieve the implementation of the Paris Agreement, the main components of the Green Deal must be compatible with SMEs for it to be successful. Therefore, the Green Deal is a growth strategy aimed at the future competitiveness of the EU, enabling innovative, green SMEs to develop the technologies needed to fight climate change inside and outside the EU. It also aims to support traditional and energy-intensive SMEs to make a successful transition to more sustainable business models.

The COVID-19 pandemic has made it clear that maintaining a well-functioning single market is vital for the EU. The crisis has shown the crucial role of transport and the social, health and economic costs when the free movement of people, goods and services is severely restricted or even completely prevented. Preserving supply chains and a coordinated European approach to connectivity and transport activity are crucial to overcoming any crisis and strengthening the EU's strategic autonomy and stability.

Given the large share of transport in the EU's total greenhouse gas emissions, the EU's target to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by at least 55% by 2030 and to achieve climate neutrality by 2050. , will only be achieved by introducing more ambitious policies to immediately reduce transport's dependence on fossil fuels and through synergies with zero pollution efforts. The success of the European Green Deal depends on our ability to make the transport system sustainable in its entiretyт.

The coverage and quality of the transport infrastructure in Bulgaria remain below the EU average, and the trans-European transport network is not yet complete. The network of multimodal platforms, some rail and road sections, as well as European rail traffic management systems and intelligent transport systems, are not yet sufficiently developed. In this context, it is necessary to address important environmental issues as they affect sustainable growth.

The EC's strategy for sustainable and smart mobility – preparing European transport for the future explicitly notes that to achieve the goals of the Green Deal we need to move from incremental change to radical transformation. Therefore, the strategy identifies 10 flagship areas and an action plan, including various milestones, showing the way forward for the European transport system to achieve our goals for sustainable, smart and stable mobility, thereby indicating the necessary level of ambition for our future policies.

The Green Deal calls for a significant proportion of inland freight carried today on land infrastructure to be diverted to rail and inland waterways. In this context, enhanced multimodality – interconnection between road, rail and inland water (river) transport would contribute to increasing the sustainability of all modes of transport.

The EU cannot rely exclusively on technological solutions: tackling climate change and reducing pollution requires immediate action to adapt our mobility system. Multimodality capitalizes on the strengths of different modes of transport, such as convenience, speed, cost, reliability, predictability, and in combination can offer more efficient transport solutions for people and goods. COVID-19 has also shown the key importance that increasing multimodality has in improving the stability of our transport system, as well as the willingness of citizens to adopt sustainable alternative modes of travel. Today's Europeans are ready to switch to more sustainable modes of transport, especially in their daily mobility, with price, availability and speed as the main conditions for switching modes.

Increased deployment and use of renewable and low-carbon fuels must go hand-in-hand with the creation of an extensive network of electric charging infrastructure to realize the full potential of widespread adoption of low- and zero-emission vehicles in all modes of transport. Charge and Recharge is a flagship EU initiative under the Recovery and Resilience Mechanism: the aim is to build half of the total 1,000 hydrogen stations by 2025 and 1 million of the total 3 million public charging stations needed by 2030. In the context of the upcoming revision of the Alternative Fuels Infrastructure Directive (AFID), the Commission will consider options for more binding infrastructure deployment targets, as well as additional measures to ensure full interoperability of infrastructure and services for the use of the infrastructure for all vehicles using alternative fuels.

Cities play and should continue to play a primary role in the transition to greater sustainability. The Commission will further engage with cities and Member States to ensure that all large and medium-sized cities that are urban hubs of the TEN-T network introduce their own sustainable urban mobility plans by 2030. The plans should include new targets, for example zero emissions and zero road deaths. Active modes of transport such as cycling have seen growth, with over 2,300 km of additional cycling infrastructure announced for cities. This figure should be doubled in the next decade to 5,000 km in the form of safe cycle lanes. The Commission is also considering developing a mission on climate-neutral and smart cities as a strategic priority for joint action to achieve decarbonisation in many European cities by 2030.

In 2020, the European Union, in the person of the European Commission, the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union, took unprecedented measures both to control the health crisis and to overcome the economic consequences and design the united efforts to restore the European economy. Decisions were made on the architecture of the Multiannual Financial Framework, on the Recovery and Resilience Mechanism, on the general "New Generation European Union" framework. They recognize and center the Green Deal and Digital Transformation as two sides of a process of recovery through transformation.

The role of the European Parliament was extremely important, which strongly supported the Green Deal and the New Generation European Union with a series of resolutions and was the basis of the decisions on the rule of law, better coordination between the EU's financial instruments, the start of the work of the Conference on the Future of Europe and the establishment of a mechanism for joint actions of the Council and the Parliament, with the support of the Commission, working in synchrony. The EP not only supported, but also made maximum efforts for faster and more efficient decision-making and confirmation of innovative positions. The leading role was played by the "Renew Europe" group, which uncompromisingly pursues its mission to renew the institutions, improve their work and strengthen the relationship with European citizens, as the main priority and corrective for the work of the European Union.