The Government also adopted several decisions on transfers and reallocations of commitment appropriations within this year's state budget. Additionally, it has adopted a response to the recommendations provided by the Advocate of the Principle of Equality concerning the issue of accessibility of public buildings for people with disabilities.

Fourth tranche of advance payments for the reconstruction of flood-damaged housing

At today's meeting of the Committee on the Economy, the Government also took note of the list of beneficiaries eligible for the fourth tranche of advance payments for the reconstruction of housing damaged by floods and landslides in August 2023. The advance payment will be made to 731 beneficiaries for a total amount of €2,389,214.42. To date, a cumulative amount of €32,107,517.18 has been paid out to 6,928 beneficiaries.

This is not just compensation for damage to property, as is sometimes misunderstood by the public. Rather, it is a transfer from the state budget to help restore living conditions in accordance with the conditions and criteria laid down by the legislation in force. Recipients are also advised to carefully retain receipts for the use of funds received.

The list of beneficiaries is compiled by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Spatial Planning on the basis of data from the Ajda online application. The funds will be disbursed by the Financial Administration of the Republic of Slovenia in the coming days. In order to ensure transparency in the use of appropriations, the list of recipients of the advance payments will be made publicly available.

In accordance with the amendment to the Act Determining Intervention Measures for Recovery from the Floods and Landslides of August 2023 (ZIUOPZP-A), owners of dwellings will receive an advance payment equal to 20% of the estimated damage, as recorded in the Ajda online application, if the estimated damage exceeds €6,000. This calculation takes into account the actual surface area of the property, which is obtained from the Real Estate Cadastre.

If there are several owners, each is paid a pro rata share according to the amount of the co-ownership share, and in the event of joint ownership, the share is determined according to the number of joint owners.

No advance payment will be made for dwellings in buildings which, according to the expert opinion of the Government Office for Post-Flood and Landslide Reconstruction, are at high risk of collapse or significant damage.

Explanatory note on the transfer of advance payments for the reconstruction of damaged housing and the use of funds received

Source: Ministry of Natural Resources and Spatial Planning

Government's opinion on the adopted decision of the National Council on the conclusion of the consultation "With the NECP towards clear guidelines for the green transformation of the economy".

At the committee, the Government adopted the opinion on the National Council's decision regarding the conclusion of the consultation "With the NECP towards clear guidelines for the green transformation of the economy" and will submit it to the National Council. In its opinion, the Government provides explanations on the specific conclusions of the consultation.

The Ministry of the Environment, Climate and Energy (MOPE) and the consortium of institutions led by the Jožef Stefan Institute, which provides MOPE with expert and technical support in the drafting of the update of the National Energy and Climate Plan (NECP), were also involved in the development of the concept and content of the consultation, which took place at the National Council on 13 November 2023. They presented the progress and state of play of the NECP update and the draft reform of the NECP policies and measures in the transport, circular economy and buildings sectors.

Source: Ministry of the Environment, Climate and Energy

Government on the Budget Reserve Fund

At a committee meeting today, the Government made decisions regarding the allocation of appropriations from the Budget Reserve Fund to alleviate economic damage caused by natural disasters in 2023.

The Ministry of the Economy, Tourism and Sport has been allocated approximately €2.1 million from the Budget Reserve Fund to address economic damage caused by natural disasters in May and July 2023.

Source: Ministry of Finance

The Government decides on the reallocation and allocation of commitment appropriations in this year's state budget

A decision was also taken to allocate a total of €47.9 million from the general budget reserve for natural disasters to the Ministry of Infrastructure and the Slovenian Infrastructure Agency to finance projects for the construction of national roads in the aftermath of natural disasters and to deal with the consequences of natural disasters.

A total of €21 million will be reallocated to the Office of the Government of the Republic of Slovenia for the Support and Integration of Migrants for temporary protection of displaced people from Ukraine. The protection measure has been extended for one year, i.e. until 4 March 2025.

Furthermore, €210,230 will be reallocated from the general budget reserve to the Ministry of Labour, Family, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities. The funds will be used to pay the salaries of workers helping with the recovery after the floods and landslides in August last year.

Source: Ministry of Finance

Slovenian Government to take into account the recommendations of the Advocate of the Principle of Equality

At today’s meeting of the Committee on State Organisation and Public Affairs, the Government also adopted a response to the Recommendations of the Advocate of the Principle of Equality on the inaccessibility of public buildings for people with disabilities, and sent it to the National Assembly of the Republic of Slovenia.

The Advocate recommends that, in accordance with the Protection against Discrimination Act (ZVarD) and the Equalisation of Opportunities for Persons with Disabilities Act (ZIMI), the Government should as soon as possible provide:

• an estimate of the required budget funds and a specific investment plan for making public buildings accessible to persons with disabilities in order to eliminate discrimination. To this end, it should also earmark budget funds;
• an analysis of the possibility of drawing European funds for the purpose of adapting public buildings to the needs of persons with disabilities, and include the analysis in the investment plan.

In its response, the Government explained that, in the implementation of the European Cohesion Policy, access for people with disabilities had to be included in all measures by virtue of the horizontal enabling condition. In the implementation of projects co-financed from European funds, Member States must respect fundamental rights, comply with the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights and take appropriate measures to prevent discrimination based on sex, race or ethnic origin, religion or belief, disability, age or sexual orientation during the preparation, implementation, monitoring, reporting and evaluation of programmes. In particular, accessibility for persons with disabilities is taken into account throughout the preparation and implementation of programmes.

The Government explained that, under the Programme for the Implementation of the European Cohesion Policy for the period 2021-2027, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Spatial Planning would act as the intermediate body for the specific objective "RSO5.1 Promoting integrated and inclusive social, economic and environmental development, culture, natural heritage, sustainable tourism and security in urban areas". This objective is implemented through the Integrated Territorial Investment mechanism and its beneficiaries are urban municipalities. Under the specific objective, measures are planned to ensure more efficient use of space in urban areas or measures to renovate and revitalise vacant and underutilised buildings in public interest, renovate cultural heritage and other buildings, and renovate and create new public open spaces. The Ministry of Natural Resources and Spatial Planning issued content-related starting points for the implementation of measures under this specific objective, which include, as one of the specific criteria for the allocation of funds, the requirement that "projects respect the principles of non-discrimination, equal opportunities, including accessibility for persons with disabilities, and gender equality".

The Ministry of Cohesion and Regional Development has already performed certain tasks in this area. The area of accessibility, which includes the inaccessibility of public buildings for persons with disabilities, is one of the enabling conditions in the European Cohesion Policy programming for the period 2021-2027. This means that this aspect must be taken into account in all projects/operations. The Ministry of Cohesion and Regional Development has therefore already organised training for all intermediary bodies on accessibility issues and on the principles of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights (OJ L 83, 30.3.2010, p. 389) and the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. The training course on 10 October 2023 also addressed the topic of accessibility or inaccessibility of public buildings.

Source: Ministry of Labour, Family, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities