The government on Thursday discussed options for Slovenia's bid to host the seat of a new European gender equality institute. According to government spokesperson Jernej Pavlin, the cabinet tasked the Office for Equal Opportunities to prepare Slovenia's case.
The European Institute for Gender Equality, which is to be launched in 2007, will provide support to the EU's institutions and member states in promoting equality among men and women and combating sexual discrimination.
The government believes Slovenia should host the seat of the new institute due to its high gender equality standards. Moreover, it believes this would contribute to the country's good name, given that the institute will work in a domain that the EU places among its key development and stability targets.
According to the Office for Equal Opportunities, Slovenia also has a geopolitical advantage: if the institute was based in Ljubljana it would be geographically close to the countries involved in the EU's future enlargement processes.
The office says further advantages over other EU member states are Slovenia's standard of living, transport accessibility, communication infrastructure and people's good command of foreign languages.
Three out of new entrants into the EU have so far announced their bid for the seat of the European Institute for Gender Equality: the Czech Republic, Lithuania and Slovakia. The EU is said to be in favour of having the institute based in one of the new members.
A decision for the institute was taken by the EU Council in June 2004, and was later endorsed by the European Parliament. The decision on its seat is to be taken as soon as possible, and not later than six month after the relevant decree of the European Parliament and the EU Council has taken effect.
The institute is to be financially backed by the European Commission, which has anticipated a budget of EUR 52.5m for the 2007-2013 period. In 2007, the institute is to employ 15 people, while the number is to rise to 30 in 2013.
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