Bulgaria calls for overriding environmental legislation

Bulgaria has urged the European Union to introduce new environmental legislation that would govern the exploration of shale gas across the continent.

Energy Minister Traicho Traikov believes a clear set of reforms that can be applied to all EU member states would carry economic and environmental benefits.

He told the Sofia Echo: "Bulgaria has initiated the creation of common European legislation for research and production of shale gas."

Earlier this year, the Bulgarian government allowed US energy giant Chevron to set up gas drilling platforms in the country, which led to a flurry of complaints.

The process of hydraulic fracturing (fracking) has raised environmental concerns, but Mr Traikov has stated that the method has not created any problems to date.

UK energy minister Charles Hendry recently highlighted the potential of fracking as a means of cutting down Britain's reliance on coal and oil. However, he noted that the government would not rush into anything and would scrutinise environmental reports before committing funding to the process.

Posted by Joseph Hutton