The government adopted on Thursday three laws dealing with the powers, structure and financing of provinces, Local Government and Regional Development Minister Ivan Zagar told the press.
The cabinet also discussed the bill that sets the borders, seats and names of future provinces and submitted it for public debate. This will give stakeholders 60 days to voice their views on the bill, Zagar said.
According to Zagar, the bill keeps the original proposal that sees Slovenia divided into 14 provinces, a number that follows the country's division into statistical regions and at the same time follows the "political reality".
The proposal will be sent to municipal councils and individual municipalities will be able to stage referendums for the people to say which province they want to join.
The cabinet would then draft the bill establishing provinces and, if possible, take into account the views of municipalities. The bill will then have to be passed by two-thirds of all MPs present at the session, Zagar said.
The setting up of provinces will also require legislative changes to define their jurisdiction. That is why the cabinet appointed a special interdepartmental group, Zagar said.
He added that the main goals in establishing provinces were decentralization and a boost to development.
Finance Minister Andrej Bajuk agreed and said that the establishment of provinces would present an important change in the functioning of the state. "We will finally get a more decentralised public administration without increasing the burden on taxpayers," he said.
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