Slovenia News 14 December 2004

The newly-appointed ministers assumed their offices last week and Prime Minister Janez Jansa nominated another member to his cabinet, as Ivan Zagar of the People's Party was proposed to become the Minister without Portfolio for Local Self-Government and Regional Policy. Newly appointed Foreign Minister Dimitrij Rupel had a busy schedule last week, attending the ministerial council of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) in Sofia and later in the week a meeting of NATO foreign ministers in Brussels. The new cabinet meanwhile decided to back the beginning of EU accession talks with Croatia and Turkey at next week's EU summit. EU veterinary inspection began its five-day visit to Slovenia to examine the implementation of European measures pertaining to food-processing facilities, animal infectious diseases and the system of control over products of animal origin. A tour by a European veterinary inspection team resulted in the temporary shut-down of a small red-meat processing plant. In the area of organization of the Veterinary Office the inspection team established a positive improvement. They were also satisfied with the veterinary training sessions held this year and programme of training sessions for next year. The inspection team also reviewed the regulations on slaughtering at agricultural tourism farms. In this context they also visited a small agricultural tourism slaughterhouse and assessed that it was in conformance with regulations and that sufficient veterinary controls had been performed. More » Foreign Minister Dimitrij Rupel has said that, at the EU summit later this week, Slovenia will not object to the Union launching accession negotiations with Croatia. Rupel believes this is the right decision that will pay off in the future. More » Foreign Minister Dimitrij Rupel oulined the activities of the ministry after he recently took over. He has also downplayed the failure of the ministerial meeting of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), saying that 21 resolutions were adopted at the Sofia meeting earlier last week. More » The draft cooperation agreement between the government and NGOs for the period between 2005 and 2008 was presented to the public on Wednesday in the National Council. The document aims at improving the working conditions of NGOs and encouraging the government to acknowledge the important role of NGOs. More » Prime Minister Janez Jansa on Friday nominated Ivan Zagar, currently mayor of Slovenska Bistrica, as the minister without portfolio in charge of regional development and local self-government. Zagar is to undergo a hearing in front of the relevant parliamentary committee within seven days. More » The government announced its plans Thursday to bring about changes to the tax legislation drafted by the previous government and currently waiting to be passed by parliament. The changes would drastically cut the proposed taxes on capital gains. More » The government adopted Thursday amendments to the companies act, which harmonises Slovenia's corporation legislation with the acquis. Economics Minister Andrej Vizjak was hopeful that the amendments could come into effect by the start of next year. More » Economic cooperation between Slovenia and China was high on the agenda as a National Council delegation visited China last week. Speaking to the press after their return to Ljubljana, councillors said opportunities for Slovenian companies lie in the 2008 Olympics and the Expo 2010, both to be hosted by China. More » Ivan Bizjak has been appointed new director general for justice and home affairs at the EU. The former Slovenian justice minister will therefore become the second-highest-ranking Slovenian official in the EU administration, second only to European commissioner Janez Potocnik. More » In the EU, further enlargement is mainly backed by the new member states, including Slovenia, while old EU members appear to be significantly less enthusiastic about it, citizens of seven of them being clearly against enlargement, suggest the latest Eurobarometer results published on Friday. More » Slovenia will increase the number of its participants in the NATO peace-keeping mission in Afghanistan, while its position on Iraq remains unchanged - no soldiers will be sent there. This is what Foreign Minister Dimitrij Rupel said on the sidelines of a meeting of NATO foreign ministers in Brussels on Thursday. More » Even recent health problems could not stop the excellent Slovenian gymnast Mitja Petkovsek who reached for gold at the parallel bars finals of the Gymnastics World Cup held this weekend in the UK. Slovenian swimmer Peter Mankoc won gold in men's 100m individual medley at the European Short Course Swimming Championships in Vienna on Sunday. More » Schedule of Events from 14 - 19 December More »

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