Ljubljana - On Sunday, 23 March 2003, the citizens of Slovenia will decide whether or not Slovenia should become a member of the European Union. According to the latest surveys of public opinion a large majority of Slovenians supports Slovenia's accession. However, in order to offer the citizens of Slovenia as complete information on the accession process as possible prior to their decision at the referendum, the Government of Slovenia has, during the pre-referendum period, made available two publications: "Slovenija in Evropska unija - o pogajanjih in njihovih posledicah" and "Slovenija v Evropski uniji?". Both of these summarise the conclusions of the negotiations with the European Union and answer some of the most topical questions in connection with accession. The publications can be ordered free of charge on toll-free number 080 2002 ('Europhone'). In addition, a week prior to the referendum, all households in Slovenia received in their post boxes a leaflet entitled "Slovenija - članica Evropske unije?". This leaflet was also sent to members of Hungarian and Italian minority in their languages.
"Slovenia. At home in Europe."
All the above publications were produced as part of the government public awareness programme about Slovenia's accession to the European Union entitled "Slovenia. At home in Europe.", which has been carried out by the Government Public Relations and Media Office since 1997. From the very start, the main emphasis of the programme has been on informing the public and facilitating access to information sources, which is why the Government has adhered to the same goals in the pre-referendum period - to enable all interested citizens to obtain the information on accession to the EU they are interested in, to present all the government arguments in favour of accession and the actual results of negotiations and their consequences and, last but not least, to encourage the public to take part in the referendum.
We have decided to focus on a more intensive use of the existing mechanisms set up during the five-year implementation of this programme - 'Europhone' 080 2002, the web site http://evropa.gov.si, the 'Eurobus' - as well as to continue working with local and regional non-commercial radio stations and private television stations.
Your questions and opinions are important
The 'Europhone' is a free phone line which Slovenian citizens have been able to call since 1998 with questions about accession. Another way of asking such questions is by using Euro post-cards, which can be obtained at post offices throughout Slovenia, and via the e-mail address evrofon@gov.si. Answers are drawn up by experts at ministries and government offices who devote a lot of attention to giving as many concrete answers as possible, as well as citing additional sources where further information can be obtained, as the basic slogan of the programme is "Your questions are important!"
Those interested can also order by telephone, post or at the web site http://evropa.gov.si the following free publications:
- "Slovenija v Evropski uniji?" - a collection of frequently asked questions and answers communicated via the 'Europhone'
- "Slovenke in Slovenci v Evropski uniji" - what does EU membership mean to the individual citizen?
- "Slovenija in Evropska unija - o pogajanjih in njihovih posledicah" - a presentation of the negotiation results
- "Evropopotnica" - a publication for children, in which there is a short presentation of all the EU member states and candidate countries.
The 'Eurobus' is an information centre which has been going around Slovenia since 2000. At first it visited only primary and secondary schools, then we arranged meetings with municipalities, and recently we have also visited shopping centres and attended various events to which we were invited by the organisers.
Co-operation with non-governmental organisations
Non-governmental organisations have throughout this period been closely involved with Slovenia's accession to the EU. They have been included in the negotiation process, as they were able to express their opinion during the preparation of Slovenia's negotiating positions. At the same time, they have played an important role in the programme "Slovenia. At home in Europe.", through which their information-communication activities were co-financed, irrespective of whether they are for or against accession. Since 1997 there have been six public calls for applications, via which non-governmental organisations have received approximately 144 million Slovenian tolars for such projects.
Co-operation with the media
Co-operation with the media is also an important part of information supply. The emphasis here is on local and regional radio and television stations as these have quite wide audiences. This co-operation mainly takes the form of the co-production of information and discussion programmes:
- "Live Europhone" - a 30-minute programme, transmitted once a month. Listeners can call the freephone number 080 2002 and put questions to the studio guest.
- "You Ask - We Answer" - a weekly 10-minute programme. Listeners can send in questions and opinions throughout the week, to which reporters try to obtain responses.
Needless to say, we do not interfere with the content of these programmes and when requested, we help to find suitable guests from the government side.
Public opinion surveys
According to the latest "Politbarometer" public survey, carried out in March by the Public Opinion Research Centre, 71% of those surveyed would vote in favour of accession to the EU (10% against and 19% undecided). Although since 1997, when the public research began to be systematically carried out (also as part of the public awareness programme), majority support for accession has never been in question and has always been around 50%, while in the months leading up to the referendum there has been a considerable increase in the number of those in favour. And this is in spite of the fact that the Government is not simply carrying out a 'Yes-campaign', but has instead continued to inform the public.
And after the referendum?
The course that events take after the referendum is, naturally, dependent on its outcome.
If the majority of voters submitting valid voting papers vote against Slovenia's accession to the EU, Slovenia will not sign the Accession Treaty on 16 April 2003 in Athens, as with the amendment to the Constitution on 7 March 2003 the referendum became legally binding.
If the voters decide in favour of Slovenia's membership, it will be all the more important to continue supplying the public with information on the possibilities and opportunities open to them when they become EU citizens.
Government Public Relations and Media Office