EC may compensate Bulgaria for closing nuclear reactors

11/09/2009

If the motion is approved by all members, the funding will be made available over the next four years.

(EurActiv - 11/09/09; AP, Reuters, DPA, Sofia Echo, Novinite, Dnevnik, Mediapool, Europe.bg, Bulgarian Government - 10/09/09)

The move frees up 140m euros in farm subsidy payments and aid. [Getty Images]

The European Commission (EC) will shortly table a proposal for granting 300m euros in additional compensation to Bulgaria for the closure of units at its Kozloduy nuclear power plant, the commission's president, Jose Manuel Barroso, said on Thursday (September 10th).

If the motion is approved by all 27 members of the EU and the European Parliament (EP), the funding will be made available to Sofia over the next four years, he told reporters in Brussels, following talks with Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borisov. But, that might not be easy, Barroso cautioned, citing the budget constraints the EU faces due to the global economic crisis.

During its accession talks with the EU, Bulgaria agreed to close four of the six nuclear reactors at Kozloduy for safety reasons. The first two units were shut down in 2002 and the second pair -- shortly before the country joined the EU in January 2007. Bulgaria has received 550m euros in compensation for closing units 3 and 4 so far.

Citing similar financial arrangements with Lithuania and Slovakia, which also had to shut down nuclear reactors before joining the bloc in 2004, Barroso said the EU must "provide the same level of assistance" that it already provides to other members in similar situations.

"I believe this is an important signal of European solidarity and our determination to treat all member states equally," he said.

Borisov met with Barroso on the second day of his first official visit to Brussels since taking office on July 27th. His centre-right Citizens for the European Development of Bulgaria (GERB) defeated the ruling Socialists in elections earlier that month.

Speaking after the meeting, Borisov said Bulgaria is seeking the EU's opinion on its joint energy projects with Russia. Last year, the previous government signed a series of agreements with Russia -- on construction of Bulgaria's second nuclear plant at Belene, as well as on its participation in the Burgas-Alexandroupolis oil pipeline and the South Stream gas pipeline.

Reuters cited Barroso as noting that the EU would consider offering loans to Bulgaria for the Belene project; construction could cost up to 6 billion euros.

"We want Bulgaria to be an integral part of the energy market in Europe," the EC president said.

One possibility for building the plant could be to ask the European Atomic Energy Community (EURATOM) to co-fund the project, according to a statement on the Bulgarian government's website.

Barroso also confirmed on Thursday that the EC will release millions of euros in farm aid to Bulgaria. Last year, Brussels blocked Bulgaria's access to EU financial assistance worth nearly half a billion euros, including funds set aside for the country under the bloc's SAPARD agricultural programme, amid concerns about rampant corruption and suspected fraud in the use of European taxpayers' money.

So far, Bulgaria has received funding under the SAPARD programme for the implementation of more than 2,400 projects worth over 406m euros. It expects to receive about 80m euros for another 321 projects, which have already been approved.

Noting that there is 6.85 billion euros of structural funds available to Bulgaria until 2013, Barroso stressed the need for the country to solve its "absorption capacity" problem.