New Head of European Commission Representation Unveils Her Plans

Ljubljana, 27 September

Mihela Zupancic took over as head of the European Commission Representation in Slovenia on Tuesday. Zupancic highlighted the European Commission's action plan on the implementation of the communication strategy as one of the key challenges in the coming period.

The successor of Erwan Fouere noted that the action plan, adopted by the European Commission on 20 July, introduces new approaches to the communication process between the Commission and the EU citizens.
"The aim is to move away from the old practice of providing information top-down, and instead open the communication channels in a broader manner. The plan builds on active dialogue between the citizens and all stakeholders," Zupancic explained.
The implementation of the new action plan will first be taken up by a pilot group of representation offices. The group will include 11 offices, three of them being new member states among them Slovenia.
Zupancic named the introduction of the euro and the entry into the Schengen system as the probable key priorities of the representation in the coming period, but also noted that there will be strong demand for information about the phasing of EU funds for some time to come.
But according to Zupancic, the Slovene public will also not fall short with regard to information concerning important issues like further rounds of EU enlargement and the implementation of the Lisbon Strategy.
Zupancic praised the work of her predecessor Erwan Fouere, pledging to preserve his achievements and at the same time tackle new challenges. She said she will try to consolidate the awareness that Slovenians as EU citizens are equal participants of the European process which has to consider their expectations.
Zupancic, who also served as editor-in-chief of the Slovenian Press Agency (STA) and before that as STA correspondent in Brussels, holds a BA in journalism and a BA in the English language both from the University of Ljubljana. She also has an masters degree in international relations from the Brussels University.

New Head of European Commission Representation Unveils Her Plans

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