Today, State Secretary Gašper Dovžan received Hungary’s Minister of Justice Judit Varga, who is also in charge of coordination of EU affairs. Minister Varga is in Slovenia to attend the informal meeting of the EU Justice and Home Affairs Council, which is taking place on 15 and 16 July 2021 in Brdo pri Kranju.

In the meetings of the Committees of the European Parliament, competent for purports within the scope of work of the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Food, the Minister Jože Podgoršek presented the sectoral programme and the priority tasks of the Slovenian Presidency. These fall within the scope of “Resilience, recovery and strategic autonomy of the EU”, focusing on strategic significance of food security within the EU and sustainable agriculture (care for rural areas) and forestry. In fisheries, priority tasks arise from the significance of conservation of coastal communities and of tradition of sustainable fishing.

Slovenian Prime Minister Janez Janša today took part in a video conference with the US think tank CEPA. The mission of the Centre for European Policy Analysis (CEPA) is to ensure a strong and enduring transatlantic alliance rooted in democratic values and principles with a strategic vision. Through research, analyses and programmes it provides a new insight into energy, security and defence issues.

Government Office for Development and European Cohesion Policy has approved EU funding for the project Agglomeration 10991 Zgornja Vižinga – Municipality Radlje ob Dravi. The project worth a little under EUR 3.4 million will receive nearly EUR 871 thousand of European Regional Development Fund support and will be implemented by the Municipality Radlje ob Dravi in the frame of the Agreement on the Development of the Koroška region.

Government Office for Development and European Cohesion Policy has approved EU funding for the project Wastewater collection and treatment in the Dravinja River basin – Municipality Zreče. The EUR 5 million project will be implemented by Municipality Zreče under the Agreement on the development of the Savinjska region and supported by the EU, with the contribution from the Cohesion Fund standing at a good EUR 1.3 million.

Government Office for Development and European Cohesion Policy has issued a grant decision for the project Measures to reduce flood risk in Kostanjevica na Krki. The project worth EUR 6.75 million will be implemented by the Slovenian Water Agency and will receive support from the Cohesion Fund in the amount of a little under EUR 2 million.

An informal meeting of EU justice ministers will take place in Brdo pri Kranju on 16 July. The central topic of the meeting will be the judicial aspects of the draft act on artificial intelligence and child-friendly justice. The discussions will be chaired by Minister Marjan Dikaučič in the capacity of the President of the EU Justice and Home Affairs Council.

A political agreement with the European Parliament on the amendment of the Aarhus Regulation was reached as one of the first achievements of the Slovenian Presidency, which would not have been possible without the positive cooperation of the trio presidencies, as Germany reached an agreement at the Council, Portugal started negotiations with the European Parliament (EP) and Slovenia successfully concluded negotiations.

On the sidelines of this year’s United Nations High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF), Zvone Černač, Minister without Portfolio for Development and EU Cohesion Policy, addressed the participants of an online event by underlining the relevance of the 2030 Agenda and its Sustainable Development Goals for faster recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic. The side event, organised under the auspices of the European Commission and the Slovenian Presidency of the Council of the EU, was also attended by Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations Amina Mohammed, European Commissioner for Economy Paolo Gentiloni, and European Commissioner for International Partnerships Jutta Urpilainen.

At the meeting of the Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety of the European Parliament, Minister of the Environment and Spatial Planning Andrej Vizjak presented the Slovenian Presidency programme and priorities pertaining to the environment and climate change. He highlighted two key priorities – the Fit for 55 legislative package (a 55-percent reduction of greenhouse gas emissions by 2030) and the UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties to be held in Glasgow in November.

Minister of Foreign Affairs Anže Logar presented the priorities of the Slovenian EU Council Presidency at the Committee on Constitutional Affairs and the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the European Parliament.

Today the European Commission unveiled the 'Fit for 55' package of climate and energy laws. The Slovenian Presidency welcomes the unveiled project, which is also a priority of the Presidency in the field of the environment and climate change. Given the importance of this legislative package, the first informal political exchange of views of the member states will already take place next week, on 20 July, at an informal meeting of environment ministers in Slovenia.

Minister of Foreign Affairs Anže Logar inaugurated the flagship cultural and promotional project of the Slovenian EU Council Presidency together with David Sassoli, the President of the European Parliament, and Gitte Zschoch, the Director of the European Union National Institutes for Culture (EUNIC), in the Citizens’ Garden in Brussels. “The Slovenian Presidency is placing culture and creativity high on the European agenda,” declared Minister Logar in his introductory address.

Today, the Government Communication Office (UKOM) sent the second draft of the contract to the Slovenian Press Agency that provides for the financing of the Slovenian Press Agency (STA), a public service, as defined by the Slovenian Press Agency Act. Numerous details were coordinated at yesterday’s coordination meeting. Currently, there are two elements that have yet to be coordinated. In the Slovenian Press Agency Act, it is stated that all content created as part of a public service must be freely accessible to all under equal conditions. Irrespective of this legal provision, the STA’s director Bojan Veselinović insists on continuing to sell certain services on the free market that are part of a public service and, in doing so, is in clear violation of the law, because those paying for the service would have different access to these services than those not paying for it.

The 47th session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva comes to an end today. At the initiative of the European Union, the Council discussed the human rights situation in Belarus, Eritrea and the Tigray region of Ethiopia. As the country presiding the Council of the EU, Slovenia presented the three initiatives that seek to improve the respective human rights situations and call on the authorities to respect their international human rights commitments.

The Government issued the Ordinance amending the Ordinance determining the conditions of entry into the Republic of Slovenia to contain and control the COVID-19 communicable disease and published it in the Official Gazette of the Republic of Slovenia.

On 13 July, State Secretary Gašper Dovžan attended via video conferencing the 6th Enlargement Day organised by the European Committee of Regions in cooperation with the Slovenian Presidency of the Council of the EU. He presented the Presidency’s key topics and plans to the high-level audience which included Maciej Popowski, Acting Director-General of the DG for European Neighbourhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations, and Nikola Dobroslavić, Rapporteur of the Committee of Regions for the Enlargement Package 2020.

State Secretary Stanislav Raščan attended a meeting of the European Parliament’s Committee on Development (DEVE) via video conference and briefed the attendants on key priorities of the Slovenian Presidency of the Council of the European Union on international development cooperation and humanitarian aid. Water and gender equality are the main priorities of the Presidency, which are common to both policy areas. He announced Slovenia’s financial contribution of 500,000 euros to the Advanced Market Commitment (COVAX) mechanism, which aims to ensure the distribution of vaccines and address the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic in developing countries. He also announced a donation of 48,000 doses of the vaccine to Bosnia and Herzegovina, and a donation of 250,000 doses of vaccine to Egypt.

A retrospective exhibition of works from the rich oeuvre by Slovenian costume designer Alan Hranitelj who has been working in the field of opera, theatre and film for over 30 years, opened today, 13 July 2021, in the Justus Lipsius building in Brussels.

Zvone Černač, Minister without Portfolio for Development and EU Cohesion Policy, attended the European Parliament Committee on Regional Development meeting. He presented the priorities of the Slovenian Presidency of the Council of the EU in the field of Cohesion Policy. Slovenian Presidency will continue with the discussions and activities for building a resilient European Union.