The Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry has presented a national report stating that workers in our country still participate too weakly in processes related to the implementation of the European Green Deal. The data was announced at an online seminar for the project "Greener Deal – Meaningful Employee Involvement in European Industries for the Implementation of the European Green Deal," the BCCI reported in the latest issue of its "Infobusiness" bulletin.

According to the analysis, our country possesses an established regulatory and institutional framework for social dialogue, which operates at four levels: national, sectoral, regional, and within individual companies. The problem, however, lies in practice: consultations with workers often remain formal and occur too late—once management decisions have already been made, rather than before them.

The project, which involves organizations from Bulgaria, Poland, Portugal, Spain, and North Macedonia, aims to assess the extent to which employees can be more actively included in social dialogue and to identify good practices for a just transition to a sustainable economy. The results were presented by Alexander Bozhilov, an expert at the BCCI, Gabriela Dimitrova, a director at the organization, and Valentin Valchev from the Confederation of Independent Trade Unions.

The report examines four main areas: existing policies and legal frameworks for implementing the Green Deal and the opportunities for workers to participate in them; functioning mechanisms and structures for consultation and social dialogue; the obstacles to the full inclusion of employees and their representatives; and successful models and practices for dialogue. To this end, the team analyzed documents and available statistics, conducted expert interviews, focus groups, and an online survey among employers, workers, trade unions, institutions, and experts.

Among the most serious problems identified in Bulgaria are the lack of timely and understandable information for employees, their weak participation in strategic decision-making, and a deficit of trust between employers and their teams. Additionally, the report cites insufficient capacity for conducting dialogue on the topics of the green and digital transitions, less developed social dialogue mechanisms in small and medium-sized enterprises, and the disconnect between the educational system, business, and social partners.

The energy sector, industry, and coal-dependent regions remain the most heavily affected by the transformation, the authors of the analysis note. At the same time, the green transition opens doors for new investments, technological modernization, workforce skill development, and greater energy independence for the country.

The report also points to examples of working dialogue models—these include the National Council for Tripartite Cooperation, consultations during the preparation of Territorial Just Transition Plans, and collective bargaining practices in large industrial enterprises. These cases demonstrate how important it is to involve workers early, exchange information with them, and seek solutions together with employers, the BCCI commented.

As key recommendations, the authors of the analysis suggest strengthening social dialogue, earlier employee involvement in decision-making, investments in training and retraining, greater transparency and access to information, and the development of dialogue at the sectoral and regional levels. At the individual enterprise level, they recommend more active planning of changes, the promotion of collective bargaining, and closer links with educational institutions.

The BCCI points out that the survey results confirm that meaningful employee involvement is a vital condition for the successful management of the green transition. Building trust between parties, timely dialogue, and investments in skills remain among the primary factors determining how enterprises and the workforce will adapt to the changing economic environment.

Work on the project continues with the exchange of experience and best practices between partners from the participating countries, while the team is also preparing practical guidelines to assist social partners in their more effective inclusion in the green transition, the Chamber informed.