Energy transition through industrial policy
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Date
2026-08-02
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Plovdiv University Press
Abstract
The European Union's energy transition should be understood not merely as an
environmental objective set apart from the economy, but as a complex industrial policy. Key motives
for the EU's energy transition include promoting economic growth, introducing non-tariff trade barriers
(such as the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism), and enhancing geopolitical competition. While
‘green’ policies act as instruments for technological renewal, they may also intensify inequality
between the EU's center and periphery, with poorer and coal-dependent Eastern European countries
facing the greatest burden of the energy transition. In managing the energy transition, Bulgaria must
implement an active industrial policy for its coal regions, particularly the Maritsa East complex. Rather
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than a disorderly phase-out or unjustified support for the coal sector, the state should promote the
development of a new industrial ecosystem in its place. Ultimately, the energy transition demands
targeted state intervention to transform declining ‘Malthusian’ sectors into innovative ‘Schumpeterian’
economic activities.
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Keywords
energy transition, industrial policy, coal regions in transition, non-tariff trade barriers