Slovenia signs cooperation agreement with Google
LJUBLJANA - Government representatives met with representatives of the US internet giant Google to discuss the achievements of the Slovenian EU presidency in digital transformation and sign a cooperation agreement under which Google will invest EUR 2.5 million over the next two years to support Slovenia's digital transformation. "This is the largest investment of its kind in our history and will make a significant contribution to Slovenia's digital breakthrough," said Digital Transformation Minister Mark Boris Andrijanič.
Hojs says EURODAC reform elusive during Slovenia's presidency
BRUSSELS, Belgium - Interior Minister Aleš Hojs expressed the hope that progress could still be made by the end of 2021 on changes to the European Asylum Dactyloscopy Database (EURODAC), a part of the new Migration Pact. He noted that there would not be a major breakthrough regarding the pact during the Slovenian EU presidency and it had not been expected either.
Hojs says Croatia meets conditions for entering Schengen Area
BRUSSELS, Belgium - Coming out of a meeting of EU home affairs ministers, Slovenia's Aleš Hojs said it had been agreed that Croatia meets the conditions for entering the Schengen Area, and that it was a key step towards a final decision on the expansion of the no-passport zone. Hojs believes other steps will follow relatively soon.
Much overdue long-term care act passed in narrow vote
LJUBLJANA - The National Assembly passed in a narrow vote the act on long-term care that brings a number of measures for adults who depend on other people's assistance to perform basic activities. This field is now being systemically regulated after some 20 years of efforts. Under the act, adults who depend on other people's assistance will be able to choose between institutional care, home care, care by a family member and financial compensation.
Govt raises wages of police employees over increased workload
LJUBLJANA - The government decided to increase wages of employees of the police force and the Interior Ministry due to the increased volume of work and special workload related to support tasks of the police. The decision will be applied as of December wages. The increase in monthly wages will range from EUR 100 to EUR 130 gross, depending on the classification of individual employees, the government said.
MPs pass medical act changes facilitating licensing of doctors
LJUBLJANA - The National Assembly passed changes to the medical services act that facilitate licensing of doctors, transfer the jurisdiction of professional exams to the Medical Chamber and simplify hiring of foreign doctors with regard to Slovenian language skills. The Health Ministry has argued that the changes would improve the functioning and accessibility of the healthcare system, in particular at primary level.
Deal reached to extend roam-like-at-home scheme until 2032
BRUSSELS, Belgium - The Council of the EU, currently chaired by Slovenia, has reached a provisional agreement to extend the EU's "roam-like-at-home scheme", which allows for roaming without extra costs, until 2032. The current roaming regulation, which entered into force in 2017, expires on 30 June 2022, so a revised regulation has been drawn up to extend the scheme with negotiators from Council and Parliament reaching a provisional agreement on the update today.
Financing of 2022 budget will require over EUR 5bn in borrowing
LJUBLJANA - The government adopted a budget financing programme envisaging that the implementation of the state budget for 2022 would require borrowing to the tune of EUR 5.05 billion. The amount of financing of the implementation of the state budget has been estimated in view of the adopted supplementary budget for next year, which shows a total deficit of EUR 2.735 billion.
Govt endorses project to boost primary healthcare
LJUBLJANA - The government gave its go-ahead for more money to be secured to make primary healthcare more accessible through an increase in staff, incentives for teams facing increased workload and a system where services will be paid based on realisation rather than plan. The plan was set out as the government adopted an annex to the general healthcare agreement for the year, which provides the basis for the public health insurer ZZZS to pay providers for their services.
New investment and internationalisation promotion plan adopted
LJUBLJANA - The government adopted a new programme for the promotion of investment and internationalisation of the economy, which focuses on sustainability, innovation and digitalisation. It systematically defines measures for promoting Slovenian investments abroad for the first time, and deals with development of a common Slovenian economic space. The programme drafted by the Ministry of Economic Development and Technology sets out out an ambitious vision of internationalisation of the Slovenian economy under the Green, Creative, Smart slogan.
Provisional agreement on e-CODEX reached
LJUBLJANA - The Slovenian presidency of the Council of the EU and the European Parliament reached on Wednesday a provisional agreement on a proposal for a regulation on the e-CODEX system. The main aim of the system is to enable digitalisation of cross-border judicial communication and provide better access to judicial protection for citizens and businesses. The e-CODEX system will become the digital backbone of the EU's judicial cooperation in civil and criminal matters, said Justice Minister Marjan Dikaučič.
Slovenia to bid for non-permanent seat on UN Security Council
LJUBLJANA - Slovenia will formally announce in New York its candidacy for a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council for the 2024-2025 period, the Foreign Ministry said. Elections in the General Assembly will be held in June 2023. The country was a non-permanent member of the Security Council before, in 1998-1999.
Pahor calls for respectful dialogue at Biden's democracy summit
WASHINGTON, US - President Borut Pahor took part in a virtual summit for democracy hosted by US President Joe Biden to draw attention to the crisis of confidence in democratic institutions and the low level of political and legal culture. He called for a respectful dialogue that includes the willingness to reconcile different views. In his video address, Pahor said Slovenia and other countries could and must do more for liberal democracy, which was based on the rule of law and full respect for human rights.
Podgoršek points to role of new technologies in agriculture
LJUBLJANA - New technologies in agriculture are an important aspect of the reform of the EU's common agricultural policy (CAP), sustainable agriculture and rural development as part of the European Green Deal, Slovenian Agriculture Minister Jože Podgoršek said at Agrobiznis, a conference organised by newspaper Finance with support of his ministry. The CAP reform, sustainable agriculture and rural development are three of the priorities of Slovenian EU presidency, the ministry said in a release after the conference.
Issuing of biometric ID cards to start at end of March 2022
LJUBLJANA - The National Assembly passed the government-proposed amendment to the identity cards act under which new biometric ID cards will start to be issued on 28 March 2022, instead of 3 January 2022, as initially planned. In line with the change, it will be possible to use expired ID cards until the end of March. Whoever needs a new ID card before that date will be able to get one, but it will not yet be biometric, the Interior Ministry has explained.
Weekly drop in Covid infections continues
LJUBLJANA - Slovenia logged 1,687 new coronavirus infections for Wednesday as a week-on-week drop in cases continued, show fresh data by the National Institute of Public Health (NIJZ). Nine Covid-related deaths were recorded, according to government data. The number of persons hospitalised with Covid-19 stood at 948, down by 15 compared to the day before, of whom 248 were in intensive care, a daily drop of 10.
Ex-energy boss Golob entering politics
LJUBLJANA - After failing to get another term as CEO of the energy trader GEN-I, Robert Golob is entering politics. He told the newspaper Delo his decision to get active in politics through a non-partisan movement was final, and is not ruling out a bid in the April general election. Golob is planning to get active through a movement in which he would like to connect different players with a view to giving civil society a much bigger role in mobilising people to cast their vote and in particular in changing political culture in the country.
Five Commodity Reserves Agency employees cleared of integrity breaches
LJUBLJANA - The Commission for the Prevention of Corruption (KPK) has not established any violations of integrity legislation in 12 procedures targetting five employees of Slovenia's Commodity Reserves Agency over suspicion of irregularities in the agency's purchases of protective equipment last year. The procedures against them have been therefore closed, the anti-graft watchdog said, including four procedures against the agency's former acting director Tomi Rumpf and one against former director Anton Zakrajšek.
Poorest households soon to get energy vouchers
LJUBLJANA - Amid rising energy prices, the government and the centre-left opposition are working on separate proposals to help the most vulnerable households with energy vouchers. The Infrastructure Ministry has indicated those could be available in the first quarter of 2022. Unofficially, 66,000 poorest families are to be eligible for the vouchers. The opposition plans to table its bill on Monday.
Bill on whistleblower protection in the making
LJUBLJANA - Transparency International (TI) Slovenia urged the government to adopt a quality law when transposing the EU whistleblower protection directive, as it issued a written statement on International Anti-Corruption Day. The ministry said that it was intensively engaged in drafting the bill, but provided no details about its content. The NGO would like the Slovenian law to bring better protection than the directive guarantees, and has thus provided examples of good and bad practices as part of a supplemented analysis by Transparency International.
