EU Presidency Will Be Top Priority for Govt EU Office in 2006
Preparations for Slovenia's EU presidency, and a strategy for effective functioning in the EU will be the main tasks of the Government Office for EU Affairs (SVEZ) in 2006, the head of the office, Marcel Koprol, told the press on Wednesday.
At the presentation of SVEZ's 2005 results and its plans for 2006, Koprol said that the role of the office has changed since Slovenia joined the EU. As an equal EU member, the country can participate in the framing of the common European policies, he added.
SVEZ has established that there is no mechanism within the EU which would enable a fast identification of Slovenia's interests in decision-making on the European level. The office would thus like to set up such a mechanism in 2006 in order to protect Slovenia's interests.
In January, a working group was established for the project of the Slovenia's EU presidency in 2008, the priorities of which are to be discussed at the beginning of December. The government also included the project in the budget framework for the next two years.
Slovenia is still involved in the EU aid programmes, such as the Phare Programme and the Schengen Facility. Around EUR 164m are still at Slovenia's disposal within these programmes, and will be spent, according to Koprol.
Koprol's deputy, Katja Rejec Longar, stressed that SVEZ intends to pay more attention to pretrial procedures which also involve Slovenia as an EU member, as they have been ignored until now.
SVEZ also oversees the EU portal, a part of the government's information system for classification and publication of the EU-related documents. It currently encompasses 70,000 documents, and is to be put online in 2006 to make it more accessible to the public.
SVEZ's 2005 results will be included in the government's 2005 report, which the cabinet is to discuss at the beginning of 2006.
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