The Government issues a decree on the establishment and provision of a public information and alert system via public mobile networks

The Electronic Communications Act (ZEKom-2) imposed an obligation on providers of publicly available mobile communications services to establish and provide a public information and alert system via mobile telephones in the event of ongoing or imminent natural or other disasters, in accordance with the requirements of the Directive EU establishing the European Electronic Communications Code The necessity of such information to protect property and save lives was also demonstrated by the recent floods and landslides that Slovenia has faced this year.

The decree, adopted on the basis of the ZEKom-2, sets out the obligations of operators to establish and provide a public information and alert system by transmitting alert notifications to the mobile phones of residents who are in the area at risk at the time of a natural or other disaster, how the system is to be financed, and the technical and security requirements for its operation. As the provision of these services is in the public interest, the funds for the establishment and maintenance of the system are provided for in the national budget. The cost of setting up the system is estimated at EUR 3,500,000.00 and the cost of maintaining the system for a period of five years is estimated at EUR 340,000.00 per year.

Once the decree enters into force, the Ministry of Digital Transformation will launch a call for tenders to which mobile communications network operators will be invited to apply. Slovenia will set up a cell broadcasting system, the so-called "Cell Broadcast" system, which is already in operation in several EU Member States.

The adoption of the decree provides all the normative bases for the practical implementation of the system.

Source: Ministry of Digital Transformation

Internal border controls will last until June 2024

The Government issued the Ordinance temporarily reintroducing controls at internal borders of the Republic of Slovenia with the Republic of Croatia and Hungary and published it in the Official Gazette of the Republic of Slovenia. The Ordinance shall enter into force on 22 December 2023.

The Ordinance reintroduces temporary controls of Slovenia's internal borders with Croatia and Hungary for a period of six months, from 22 December 2023 to 22 June 2024. The controls will be imposed on the basis of Article 36(1) of the State Border Control Act in conjunction with Article 25 of the Schengen Borders Code.

The marked deterioration of the security situation in the Middle East and the threats reflected in the numerous calls by terrorist organisations to carry out terrorist and other violent acts in Western countries, the continuation of the Russian military aggression in Ukraine, the development of the security situation in Afghanistan, as well as the violent conflicts in some African countries, call for the adoption of extreme measures to ensure public order and internal security.

Slovenia's terrorism threat assessment remains at an elevated level, level 3 out of 5. A large number of EU Member States have also recently raised their terrorist threat level, with neighbouring Austria even reaching the highest level. In line with the principles of the Schengen area, a threat in one Member State can pose a threat to the whole area. In addition, the European Commissioner for Home Affairs warned in early December of the high risk of terrorist attacks in the EU in connection with the war in the Middle East and the polarisation it has caused in society.

The terrorist threat is further underlined by the fact that security authorities in some Member States have arrested a number of people from third countries as part of counter-terrorism operations in the EU. In this context, migratory flows can pose a security risk accompanied by other deviant behaviour.

The data obtained in the period since the temporary internal border controls were introduced under Article 28 of the Schengen Borders Code, i.e. from 21 October 2023 onwards, confirm that they constitute one of the important measures to ensure internal security. It is therefore reasonable to continue it in the future. The national security authorities will continue to closely monitor potential risks and the security situation in the country and the wider region, as well as factors that could influence the radicalisation of individuals and the spread of violent extremism. The information gathered over the next six months on the evolution of the security situation in the country and the wider region will form the basis for further decisions.

Taking into account the principle of proportionality, the modalities and intensity of temporary border control measures will continue to be targeted and focused on the prevention of terrorism, extremism and cross-border crime. The measures will be implemented in a way that minimises the impact on travellers, the environment and the economy, and in particular on the lives of the population along the border.

Source: Ministry of the Interior

The Government takes note of information on the implementation of the Recovery and Resilience Plan

Today, the Government took note of information on the implementation of the Recovery and Resilience Plan (RRP). It called on the relevant ministries and other government bodies responsible for the implementation and smooth execution of the RRP to accelerate as a matter of priority their activities to implement the reforms and investments, the milestones and targets of which are foreseen for implementation in the coming year.

The Government took note of the status of the revision of the RRP, the status of the second payment request, the financial implementation of the RRP and the status of achievement of milestones and targets.

On 17 October 2023, the Council of the European Union gave its final approval to the preliminary positive assessment of the proposal for the revision of the RRP by the European Commission (EC). Slovenia now has EUR 2.68 billion available for the implementation of the investments and reforms of the RRP, including EUR 1.61 billion in grants and EUR 1.07 billion in loans from the Recovery and Resilience Mechanism (the "Mechanism").

Slovenia has so far received EUR 305 million from the European budget for the implementation of the RRP measures. Towards the end of this year, it will receive the payment of its second request from Brussels for a gross amount of EUR 614 million, or an indicative net amount of EUR 536 million, taking into account the pro-rata advance already received from the Mechanism in September 2021 and yesterday's advance for the implementation of the REPowerEU measures. At the end of November 2023, the EC made a preliminary assessment that Slovenia had satisfactorily met all 44 milestones and targets of the second payment request, which consists of the second and third instalments of the grant and the first instalment of the loan. After the EC's assessment has been taken into account by certain Council of the European Union committees, the EC will make its final assessment and issue a decision formally authorising the disbursement of an indicative EUR 227 million of net grants and EUR 310 million of net loans from the Mechanism.

The EC, upon examining the instalment payment requests submitted by Slovenia to Brussels, assessed that Slovenia has also formally met 56 out of a total of 205 milestones and targets. At the same time, the Ministries, in their capacity as responsible authorities for the implementation of investments and reforms, provisionally estimate that they have also met 14 milestones and targets in the instalments that will be the subject of the next payment requests.

The Ministry of Finance and the Recovery and Resilience Office of the Republic of Slovenia will report to the Government on the implementation of the RRP on a quarterly basis in the future.

Source: Ministry of Finance