The materials include the first draft of the priorities of Slovenia’s presidency of the EU Council in the second half of 2021. It is divided into two parts: the first part contains a presentation of three key priorities of the Slovenian presidency, which were formulated on the basis of ministerial consultation in February and July 2019 and contributions from all of the ministries. The second part contains a presentation of the priorities according to the composition of the EU Council. During this phase, the range of priorities is conditioned by current events on the European political stage, owing to which the current draft priorities will be subject to further coordination and adaptation with respect to the timeline and the course of events. The current strategic documents at the level of the EU and the Republic of Slovenia were taken into account in the formulation of the draft priorities.

The inclusion of content among the priorities of Slovenia’s presidency of the EU Council was conditioned by three key elements: that the content is part of the deliberations within the European Union’s agenda, that it is important from the perspective of Slovenia’s operations, and that the state administration have the requisite expert staff to implement the actions associated with the content. In view of the above and taking account of sustainable and green as connecting themes of the Slovenian presidency, the following three sets of priorities are the focus in this phase of preparations for Slovenia’s presidency of the EU Council: a European Union based on sustainable development, a European Union based on the rule of law, and a safe European Union as a guarantor of a good partner in the neighbourhood and around the world.