Culture Council Backs Reforms, in Principle

Ljubljana, 08 March

The members of the National Council for Culture assessed reforms proposed by the government as necessary, and as an opportunity to thoroughly reorganise the approach to culture in Slovenia, as they met at the Culture Ministry on Wednesday.

The participants, who were also addressed by Culture Minister Vasko Simoniti, backed a proposal to draft a resolution on the reform of the public cultural sector and the flat tax rate.
According to Simoniti, expert opinions on the effects a possible introduction of the flat tax would have on culture do not forecast "a catastrophe". He added that certain areas of culture would nevertheless be hurt: that is why measures mitigating the negative effects would have to be introduced.
In the opinion of writer Drago Jancar, a comprehensive public discussion is a precondition for a targeted redefinition of culture. The public has to understand that culture enjoys a special status in other democratic European countries. Only then can this approach also be embraced by economists, said Jancar.
The council's president Janez Pipan, the director of the Slovenian National Drama Theatre in Ljubljana, also pointed out that the ministry's expert opinions rely too much on economists alone, adding that a comprehensive picture of the situation calls for diverse opinions and analyses.
While film director Miran Zupancic labelled the given expert opinions as "economic-political reform meteorology", sociologist Renata Salecl voiced concern over the possibility that however numerous the analyses, the final decision would be made at the political level.
The members were nevertheless united in the view that changes are necessary. "What we expect from the reform of the public sector is a modernisation of the current system, which is a legacy of a long gone past," Pipan summed up.

Culture Council Backs Reforms, in Principle

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