The Government adopted the proposal on the recognition of independence and sovereignty of the State of Palestine and submitted it to the National Assembly. On 9 May 2024, the Government of the Republic of Slovenia instigated the procedure to recognise the independent State of Palestine, which triggered a new wave of recognising Palestine in Europe after ten years. This sent a strong signal to other countries to follow the examples of Norway, Spain, Ireland, Slovenia and other countries which have already recognised Palestine and do so themselves as well. The procedure of recognising the independent State of Palestine coincides with Slovenia’s efforts towards a ceasefire in Gaza, the release of hostages, further reforms and empowerment of the Palestinian authorities. It confirms Slovenia’s role in the UNSC as a promoter of peace and security and its long-standing position that a permanent solution to the Middle East conflict can only be attained by means of two separate states. Broad international consent exists, including in the USA, the EU, China and Arab, African, Asian and Latin American countries, that the two-state solution is the only option for ensuring lasting peace and stability for Israelis and Palestinians.

The Government adopted the starting points for drafting the Act Amending the Health Services Act. A regulated health system prioritising patient rights and the provision of professional, high-quality and safe treatment with appropriate accessibility is an objective that we pursue. It was established that certain fields of organisation and provision of healthcare activities are deficient or inadequately regulated. The Government of the Republic of Slovenia thus adopted the starting points to draft the Act Amending the Health Services Act. The starting points anticipate restrictions relating to the work of health professionals who are employed in public health institutions when working for private healthcare providers. With the permission of a director, health professionals employed in public health institutions will be able to implement healthcare activities only in (their or another) public health institution. Furthermore, the starting points anticipate a supplementary employment with one’s own employer. In this way, the employees will perform their work in their own healthcare institution and not elsewhere. The conditions under which a health professional may obtain permission to work for another healthcare provider will be determined more clearly, i.e. when the entire programme of the Health Insurance Institute of the Republic of Slovenia (ZZZS) for an individual type of healthcare activity has been completed with their employer, when the maximum allowed waiting periods are not exceeded, and if they do not refuse work in their public health institution. The restrictions on working elsewhere do not apply for cooperation with the Red Cross, the Mountain Rescue Service, Slovenia Transplant, when working as a medical expert, and similar. Solutions for suitable remuneration of employees will also be prepared in order to promote additional work in the health institution in which a health professional is employed. The starting points of the amendments also anticipate that every healthcare provider will have to obtain the permission of the Ministry of Health for their work (the notification of the Agency of the Republic of Slovenia for Public Legal Records and Related Service will no longer suffice). The healthcare provider will only be able to obtain permission to carry out a healthcare activity if this will be implemented on their own behalf and on their own account. In doing so, we want to avoid the current practice in which sole proprietors on the basis of civil law contracts which have all the properties of an employment relationship implement services at the premises of other healthcare providers, with their equipment and materials, as subcontractors of the ZZZS programme.

The Government also confirmed the starting points for amending the tax legislation. Within the framework of drafting proposals of tax amendments – also based on the discussions taking place at the Strategic Council for Taxes and the Tax Working Group – the Ministry of Finance identified significant development challenges of the existing tax system which should be supported with appropriately drafted tax measures. We thus address the objectives of the increased productivity and international competitiveness of the Slovenian economy while simultaneously ensuring the medium- and long-term sustainability of public finances. The key section of the tax change package will include development-oriented measures to support the activities and employees with higher added value to address a faster closing of the gap behind the countries considered innovation leaders. By introducing more favourable taxation in the form of lower income tax in the amount of seven percent of the salary received, we will support the conditions for increasing the added value of the economy. This measure is intended to attract highly qualified employees. It will apply to Slovenians who were non-residents of Slovenia due to work or studies and the acquisition of experience abroad for at least five years, or foreign citizens who are newly employed in Slovenia, all of whom must be under 40 years of age. These key employees will be able to utilise this favourable tax treatment for five years. The rewarding of employees with stocks and shares will be made easier, and we will also address the challenges of innovative start-up companies when rewarding employees and ensuring adequate liquidity in the initial phases of operations. The second section of the package will include measures to improve the international competitiveness of the Slovenian economy and improve fairness in the tax system, whereby the proposals of the business sector will be heeded to the greatest extent possible. These include several measures relating to the added value tax. The period to utilise the reliefs for green and digital transition will be extended from one to five years. We will also listen to the farmers, as the payments for farming in areas with limited possibilities for agricultural activity will be excluded from taxation. Certain other policies and objectives will be addressed with measures in the third section of the package. The taxation of sweet (with added sugar) and energy beverages will be adjusted from the general 9.5 per cent to 22 per cent, including excise duties on alcohol and alcoholic beverages (excluding wine). This measure is not intended to obtain additional public finance sources, but to support the attainment of objectives in the field of public health.

Today, the Government discussed and adopted the starting points for the drafting of the strategy for elimination of precarious work. The systemic elimination of precarious work was one of the coalition commitments of the current Government and is consistent with the Platform Work Directive that has recently been adopted in the European Parliament and which must be transposed into the Slovenian legal order within two years. Precarisation, as one of the manifestations of the increase in atypical forms of labour, brings negative results at the micro and macro levels. At the micro level, the negative effects of precarisation are seen in the absence of minimum legal, economic, and social security of workers. At the macro level, precarisation affects the existence and maintenance of social security systems. The purpose of the strategy is to draft a specific selection of measures with which the Government of the Republic of Slovenia will address precarisation and which will then be realised within the framework of the prepared action plan. In addition to the introductory section that will summarise the results of the MAPA research, the strategy will be divided into individual fields categorised by risks and specific measures that will present the solutions for the identified risks. Discussion regarding measures which affect the precarious work indirectly will also be promoted. Such measures include legal shortening of the possible extent of the working hours that are considered full-time.

The Government has already approved the intervention Act on urgent measures to improve personnel, working conditions and the capacity of providers of social care services and long-term care (ZNURK) on the personnel in social care, which includes eight new measures to promote employment. With this Act, the Government wishes to stimulate and support employers, employees and those who decide to find employment in social care. The Act is a necessary step in addressing personnel shortages encountered by the providers of social care services and long-term care, which represent one of the main obstacles in the implementation and development of social care and long-term care in Slovenia. This is an intervention act by means of which the Ministry addresses urgent measures to prevent consequences that are difficult to repair and which are occurring due to a lack of personnel for the provision of social care services, nursing and rehabilitation by providers of social care and long-term care.