The Government was briefed on the estimate of direct damage caused by the natural disaster that struck Slovenia on 4 August 2023. The floods and landslides affected 183 out of a total of 212 Slovenian municipalities, of which 104 suffered severe damage. It is estimated that a total of 17,203 km² of land has been affected. The total direct damage caused by the natural disaster and its impact on people, businesses and the environment is estimated at EUR 9.9 billion. 

The estimate covers all aspects of the natural disaster, from replacing buildings, cleaning up streams, rebuilding infrastructure, and protecting and renovating cultural heritage sites to waste disposal and management, and more.

Because this was the worst natural disaster in Slovenia's history, and because the damage and other impacts had to be estimated in a very short time, the Government decided to use the internationally established PDNA (Post-Disaster Needs Assessment) methodology. Its main advantage is that it enables a comprehensive and rapid assessment of post-disaster impacts and the preparation of recovery plans. It makes it possible to perform a uniform and comparable assessment of the costs of restoring the situation to normal, bearing in mind that such an extensive recovery may take several years.

This method builds on the national damage assessment methodologies established to date. An example of an estimate for a fifty-year-old building that was completely destroyed in the floods and must be replaced: under the methodology described, the estimate covers the costs of constructing a new building, taking into account the total costs of current construction, rather than only the value of the old building. However, this estimate does not include any improvements, such as a new solar power plant if the original building did not have one.

The estimate of direct damage presented today is key for preparing the application for funding from the EU Solidarity Fund. The deadline for submitting the application to the European Commission is 27 October 2023, and the actions taken so far mean this deadline is certain to be met.

The Government finalised the draft Resolution on the 2023–2030 National Road Safety Programme

The Resolution on the 2023–2030 National Road Safety Programme (hereinafter: the national programme) is a strategic document of the Slovenian Government focusing on the road safety policy and the professionally complex and most obvious road safety problems in Slovenia from 2023 to 2030.

This national programme pursues Vision Zero and sets objectives in priority areas that must be met to ensure more effective road safety measures are in place. Its primary objective is to reduce the worst consequences of road traffic accidents (fatalities and severe injuries), which can be achieved through an effective holistic and integral approach that takes into account the synergies of traffic policy objectives.

A global objective pursued by the UN member states is to achieve a 50% reduction in the number of people killed and seriously injured in traffic by 2030. Slovenia will also pursue this goal. By carrying out the measures specified in the national programme, Slovenia's goal is that by 2030 the number of people killed on Slovenian roads will not exceed 50 a year, and the number of people seriously injured in road accidents will not exceed 400. The starting point used is the year 2019, when the traffic density on Slovenian roads and the related road accidents had not yet been affected by the pandemic.

Global and EU road safety guidelines have been taken into account in preparing the plan.

2023–2028 Natura 2000 Management Programme

The Government has adopted the 2023–2028 Natura 2000 Management Programme (PUN 2023–2028). PUN 2023–2028 details the long-term and programme-related protection objectives for the species and habitat types in Slovenia that are protected through the Natura 2000 network. For each protection objective, the programme specifies measures that will contribute to achieving a favourable conservation status of the relevant species and habitat types, along with the responsible departments and coordinators, priorities, and funding sources.