Slovenia News 22 January 2008

Prime Minister Janez Jansa presented Slovenia's EU presidency programme to the Members of the European Parliament at its 16 January plenary part-session. In Strasbourg, the Prime Minister focused chiefly on Slovenia's six-month presidency priority tasks. The Prime Minister said that Slovenia would undertake these tasks with a highly conscientious attitude and he hoped that Slovenia's contribution would, month by month, increase the general happiness of European citizens. The Prime Minister mentioned the Lisbon Treaty as one of the priorities and said he hoped the Treaty would be ratified by as many Member States as possible by the end of the Slovenian Presidency. Special attention would be devoted to the Western Balkans and enlargement of the EU. “It is vital that this process should continue, in compliance with commitments already undertaken and on the basis of fundamental principles, primarily the fulfilment of membership criteria. These are the bases on which Slovenian Presidency will make every effort to pursue accession negotiations with Croatia and Turkey,” announced the Prime Minister on the subject of EU enlargement. The President of the EU General Affairs and External Relations Council, Slovenian Foreign Minister Dr Dimitrij Rupel, today met the Pakistani President, Mr Pervez Musharraf, in Brussels. Discussions at the meeting focused on the situation in Pakistan and preparations for the elections as well as other important issues in the region, including the situation in Afghanistan. More » French Defence Minister Herve Morin and his Slovenian counterpart Karl Erjavec discussed at a meeting on Thursday the priorities of their successive EU presidencies in a bid to ensure the continuum of policies launched by the German EU presidency through 2008. More » At a press conference today, the Prime Minister of the Republic of Slovenia, Mr Janez Jansa, explained certain measures recently adopted by the Slovenian Government to mitigate the adverse impact of inflation and on which the Slovenian Parliament is to decide in the near future. The Prime Minister also outlined the response to his presentation of the Slovenian EU Council Presidency Programme at the European Parliament in Strasbourg on Wednesday. More » After the government decided last week to cut its spending, a measure that is to affect especially the Defence Ministry, minister Karl Erjavec presented on Monday his ministry's supplementary budget. More » Finance Minister Andrej Bajuk, the current chair of the Economic and Financial Affairs Council (ECOFIN), highlighted on Tuesday economic reforms, financial stability, the quality of public finances, the fight against tax fraud and reduced VAT rates as the main priorities of the Slovenian EU presidency. More » The Finance Ministry launched on Monday a roadshow presenting a new EUR 1bn issue of benchmark euro bonds with lead managers NLB, ABN Amro and BNP Paribas. The bond issue will be presented through January in Amsterdam, The Hague, Utrecht, Reykjavik, Helsinki, London and Budapest. More » Construction company Primorje from Ajdovscina signed on Wednesday a EUR 19.9m contract with a Belgrade utility on the overhaul of its water purification system aimed at doubling the current supply of potable water to the Serbian capital. More » Factory-gate prices were up 0.2% in December compared to the month before, while the annual growth was 3.4%, the national Statistics Office said on Monday. More » Iskra Avtoelektrika Group, the Nova Gorica-based maker of electrical components for the car industry, posted sales revenues of EUR 239m in 2007, a hefty 20% increase over the year before. Net profit amounted to EUR 4.1m, the company said at a press conference on Friday. More » EU agriculture ministers reached in Brussels on Monday agreement on cross compliance within the framework of direct payments in agriculture. The compromise must be observed by all new EU member states, including Bulgaria and Romania, but excluding Slovenia and Malta. More » The Prime Minister of the Republic of Slovenia and President of the European Council, Janez Jansa, today presented the six-month Slovenian EU Council Presidency programme to Members of the European Parliament at its plenary part-session in Strasbourg. The Prime Minister focused chiefly on the priority tasks Slovenia had set for its Presidency. More » The deployment of an EU mission to Kosovo and the independence of the province are two separate issues, Foreign Minister Dimitrij Rupel said after a meeting of EU foreign ministers from the Mediterranean in Cyprus on Friday. More » The Prime Minister Jansa today attended the opening ceremony to celebrate the adoption of the euro in the Republic of Cyprus. The official ceremony in Nicosia, at which Mr Jansa delivered an address, was attended not only by the Cypriot President but also by President of the European Commission José Manuel Barroso, Vice-President of the European Parliament Rodi Kratsa-Tsagaropoulou, President of the European Central Bank Jean-Claude Trichet and other distinguished guests. More » Public Administration Minister Gregor Virant pledged full support of Slovenia's EU presidency for the elimination of red tape as he held working talks on Friday with former Bavarian premier Edmund Stoiber, the head of the EU High Level Group on Administrative Burdens. More » The biggest Slovenian box office hit in the last four years and the second most popular Slovenian film ever, "Petelinji Zajtrk" (Rooster's Breakfast), received on Tuesday the Great Golden Roll Award for surpassing the 125,000-ticket milestone. More » Head of infant care unit at Ljubljana maternity hospital Lilijana Kornhauser Cerar was named on Thursday Slovenian Woman of the Year by readers of one of the most popular Slovenian women's magazines, Jana. More » Snowboard parallel giant slalom world champion Rok Flader recovered from two mediocre finishes on Sunday, taking first place at the parallel slalom World Cup event in Spain's La Molina. More » Calendar of Events for 22 - 27 January More »

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