Slovenia News 10 October 2006

EU interior ministers adopted on Thursday in Luxembourg a new time plan for bringing the Schengen Information System II (SIS II) on line for EU-15 members in June 2008, yet no date date has been set for the bloc's new members, which were originally supposed to enter by October 2007. As the ministers also discussed the possibility of averting a delay in the zone's expansion with the help of a transitional information system, the Slovenian Interior Minister Dragutin Mate said that an alternative solution via the SIS I Plus system, proposed by Portugal, seems ever more feasible. "Technical details need to be harmonised, with the meeting of EU interior affairs ministers in December expected to bring the final decision on the inclusion of new members," Mate said. Slovenia is in a much better position than it was two years ago when the current government took over, Prime Minister Janez Jansa told the press on Tuesday, exactly two years after the current government parties won the general election. More » The presidents of coalition parties and the heads of deputy groups came out of a meeting with Prime Minister Janez Jansa on Wednesday confident that the coalition is successful, unified and in agreement two years after the general elections. More » German Ambassador Hans-Joachim Goetz has praised the relations his country has had with Slovenia ever since diplomatic ties were established between the two 15 years ago. Moreover, economic ties can definitely be labelled a "success story", Goetz said addressing a reception upon Day of German Unity at the embassy's residence just outside Ljubljana on Tuesday. More » India has voiced its plans to open an embassy in Ljubljana shortly. Moreover, the ambassador has already been appointed, an Indian official revealed during Friday's political consultations with Slovenia. More » The government on Thursday adopted a programme for children and youth for the 2006-2016 period, a document which deals with all crucial aspects of children's lives, in particular those where there are problems. More » The parliament's foreign policy committee on Friday took a decision in which the MPs voiced the expectation that the new Austrian government would put bilingual signs in the province of Carinthia on its agenda in line with Article 7 of the Austrian State Treaty and rulings of the Constitutional Court. More » Prime Minister Janez Jansa and Finance Minister Andrej Bajuk were upbeat about Slovenia's prospects as they presented the amendments to the 2007-2008 budget memorandum and the 2008 budget bill to parliament on Monday. More » The government on Thursday increased the quota of work permits for foreigners from 17,350 to 18,500, as almost all work permits for the year have been used up and there is demand in particular for additional construction workers and posted workers. More » Slovenia has established contact with Italy as a possible partner country in the UN peacekeeping mission (UNIFIL) in Lebanon, Defence Minister Karl Erjavec told the members of the parliamentary defence committee on Friday. More » The national postal company Posta Slovenije is preparing for the full opening of the EU postal services market, which the European Commission is expected to set for 2009. This year's priorities include strengthening cooperation with the postal companies from certain foreign markets, and the selection of a strategic partner, the company's press release reads on Wednesday. More » Participants of a panel on risk management expressed their pleasure that risks are finally being talked about and stressed a more active role of the state in managing them after hearing an address by Economy Minister Andrej Vizjak, who described the state's future contribution towards risk management in Maribor on Thursday. More » Serb President Boris Tadic officially opened near Kragujevec on Thursday an auto parts plant built by Grah Automotive from Slovenia. The plant stretches over 2,000 square metres and is to provide up to 250 jobs by the end of the year. More » Energy companies Gen energija and Istrabenz Gorenje energetski sistemi (IGES) on Friday established a 50:50 joint venture, GEN-I, which will sell electricity in Slovenia and the EU. More » European Science and Research Commissioner Janez Potocnik has urged Slovenian managers to invest more in science and research, saying Europe needs innovation and entrepreneurs who would up the currently low level of investment in R&D. More » Slovenian companies have many competitive advantages in the markets of the Western Balkans, which is why foreign companies are increasingly treating them as important partners for joint ventures there, Economy Ministry State Secretary Andrijana Starina Kosem has told the participants of a business conference in New York. More » The tolar, the Slovenian national currency, will be celebrating its 15th and last anniversary on Sunday. On 1 January 2007, Slovenia will abandon a currency which has been enjoying a very high level of trust among the citizens, to adopt the euro and become the first EU newcomer to join the eurozone. More » A new Faculty of Applied Social Sciences will open in Nova Gorica next year in line with a memorandum of understanding signed on Tuesday by the city, the Higher Education and Research Centre of Primorsko and the gaming company Hit. More » The national telco Telekom Slovenije and a Ljubljana-based telecommunications company Tok telekomunikacije have been awarded 10-year licences to provide broadband wireless Internet services, Slovenia's telecommunications watchdog said on Tuesday. More » The European Commission on Wednesday adopted a decision on allocating EUR 19.33m to Slovenia from the European Fisheries Fund (EFF) for the 2007-2013 period. The total amount of money dished out by the fund stands at EUR 3.849bn in the period. More » Proposals to increase competitiveness, cohesion and employment in tourism, technology and health care, and supported by the EU Innovation Coach project, were presented on Wednesday. More » With Slovenia changing over to the euro on 1 January 2007, the manufacture of Slovenian euro coins at the Finnish company Mint of Finland is running at full steam. More » Making women more equally involved in decision making processes requires the securing of certain preconditions, with experience showing that the most successful companies are those enabling a reconciliation of family and professional life, Mateja Cotman, state secretary at the Slovenian Labour Ministry, said after an informal meeting of EU ministers responsible for the equality of sexes on Saturday. More » Defence Minister Karl Erjavec presented a new military doctrine to the members of the parliamentary defence committee on Friday, the most important military expert document in the country. More » An exhibition entitled "The Allure of the Matrix, the Woodcut in Slovenia in the 20th Century" opened on Thursday, 5 October, in the International Centre of Graphic Arts (MGLC). The exhibition highlights woodcut and linocut art in Slovenia between the years 1911 and 2006 with the emphasis on the period after 1950. More » Over 350 exhibits by designers from 17 countries will be on display at the 20th Biennial of Industrial Design (BIO), which is underway in Ljubljana between 5 October and 5 November. More » In a year that marks the centenary of death of Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen (1828-1906), Slovenia will pay homage to the author with a unique exhibition of first prints and a day-long symposium on Ibsen's influence on Slovenian literature. More » EU interior ministers adopted on Thursday a new time plan for bringing the Schengen Information System II (SIS II) on line for EU-15 members in June 2008, yet no date date has been set for the bloc's new members, said Slovenian Interior Minister Dragutin Mate after meeting his counterparts in Luxembourg. More » Schedule of Events from 10 to 15 October More »

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