As the 20th anniversary of Slovenia's accession to the EU approaches, in a new episode of the podcast, we hosted agricultural economist Dr Emil Erjavec. During the negotiations for EU accession, he was a member of the core negotiating team for agriculture and fisheries, the "expert engine" of the negotiations for agriculture. He is a highly popular professor at the Biotechnical Faculty and above all, a great expert in agricultural policy.

On the occasion of the 75th anniversary of Nato and the 20th anniversary of Slovenia's accession to the military organisation, an exhibition and a roundtable discussion on the importance and future of Nato were opened at the Military History Park in Pivka on 27 March. The panellists agreed that the Alliance has played an important role in maintaining peace in Europe and will continue to do so in the future.

Twenty years ago, Slovenians convincingly decided to join the European Union. The referendum took place on March 23, 2003, with nearly 90 percent of voters in favor of accession. Voter turnout was just under 60 percent, and the outcome of the referendum was binding and irrevocable for the national parliament.

If we know the rights and options that we have when shopping or travelling within the EU, we can better utilise the advantages of the European single market while avoiding various problems, risks and unnecessary expenses. Even more – with our awareness, we contribute to a higher quality of goods and services offered and to limiting unfair providers on the domestic or foreign market.

Since independence in 1991, Slovenia's key foreign policy objective was to become a member of the European Union. The National Assembly played an important role in achieving this goal. At the time of accession, its most important "European" tasks were to adapt the Slovenian legal order to European legislation and to approve Slovenia's negotiating positions for the negotiations with the European Commission.

This is the European Union Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators (ACER). It was established in March 2011 by the Third Energy Package legislation and is one of the EU decentralised agencies.

The guest of the 2nd episode of the GOVSI government podcast is Dr Janez Potočnik: during the preparations for Slovenia's accession to the EU, he was the head of the EU Accession Negotiating Group, then European Commissioner for two terms, and today he is a member and co-chair of the UN's International Panel on Resources. The discussion was moderated by Petra Bezjak Cirman, Director of the Government Communications Office.

This May, we are not only celebrating the 20th anniversary of Slovenia's accession to the EU, but also 20 years since the largest EU enlargement. Therefore Belgium, the current Presidency of the Council of the EU, has invited all ten countries that joined the EU at that time to illuminate the European path of the BRIGHT festival in Brussels with light installations.

Twenty years ago, the European Union consisted of 15 member states. In 2004, ten more countries were expected to join them. The enlargement posed a significant challenge in terms of ensuring the continued effectiveness and legitimacy of EU institutions. For example, only two of the candidate countries had a population larger than the average of the existing member states, which would mean that the political power of smaller countries would disproportionately increase after the enlargement.

The National Assembly of the Republic of Slovenia was among the first national parliaments of the European Union (EU) to ratify the Lisbon Treaty. The law for its ratification was adopted on January 29, 2008, at the beginning of Slovenia's first presidency of the Council of the EU and concurrently the European Council. The presidency itself was one of the reasons for the expedited process, as it aimed to demonstrate Slovenia's commitment to the European integration project.

In the first episode of the GOVSI podcast, host Boštjan Lajovic hosts Tanja Fajon, Minister of Foreign and European Affairs, and Marjan Šarc, Minister of Defence.

On May 1, 2024, Slovenia will mark the 20th anniversary of its accession to the European Union, coinciding with the largest EU enlargement in history. In collaboration with institutions such as the National Assembly, the Office of the President of the Republic, and the representations of the European Commission and the European Parliament in Slovenia, the government has curated a comprehensive program of activities.