President refers new rules for the construction of RES on arable land to the Constitutional Court

Bulgaria’s President Rumen Radev referred to the Constitutional Court regarding the amendments to the Agricultural Land Conservation Act. The Head of State disagrees with the new rules on the placement of renewable energy installations on arable land.

"By removing almost all restrictions to the placement of renewable energy production plants on arable land, the new regulations create a risk of uncontrolled conversion of agricultural areas into all types of energy production plants.

Allowing the construction of wind, solar, hydroelectric, geothermal or biomass and biofuel energy facilities on high quality land (category 5) allows the conversion of the majority of agricultural land and pastures in Bulgaria.

According to the Bulgarian constitution, land is a primary national asset and the legislator must protect it and not allow encroachments against it," the presidency said.

The changes to the Agricultural Land Conservation Act came into force through changes to the Renewable Energy Act, part of the laws under the Recovery and Resilience Plan. The Renewable Energy Act was promulgated in the State Gazette last week.

According to the Head of State, the changes contradict the provision of Article 21 of the Constitution of the Republic of Bulgaria, according to which land is the main national wealth and arable land is used only for agricultural purposes.

"Change of its use is allowed only as an exception and in case of proven need. Neither in the explanatory memorandum nor in the debates on the bill was such a need discussed. Moreover, the objections of the Ministry of Agriculture and Food have not been taken into account, and many of the controversial texts were tabled between the first and second readings.

Therefore, taking into account the paramount importance of the protection of agricultural land, the President is exercising his power to refer the matter to the Constitutional Court with a request to declare §78 of the Act on the Amendment and Supplementation of the Renewable Energy Act as unconstitutional.