The Slovenian Presidency held on 11 and 12 April an Informal Meeting of EU Ministers of Environment. The meeting, also attended by EU Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas, focussed on the reduction of Co2 emissions with the use of sustainable biofuels and precluding adverse impacts such as deforestation. According to Slovene Environment Minister Janez Podobnik, who chaired the meeting, a special ad hoc group of the Committee of Permanent Representatives at the EU (Coreper) is expected to draft the sustainability criteria for the production of biofuels by its 7 May meeting. According to Environment Commissioner Dimas, the work of the ad hoc group is very important. "I'm sure they will do their best to achieve the best sustainability criteria in the world, taking into account the social and environmental impacts, and maximising the benefits from the use of biofuels," Dimas said. In Slovenia the EU Ministers also discussed funding of programmes to prevent deforestation. Dimas said that various approaches were being discussed, including credits for avoiding deforestation, and using 20% of the estimated EUR 30-50bn that member states will get from auctioning CO2 emission permits for "good causes".
In this edition of Slovenia News we also write on Foreign Minister Rupel's visit to the USA, where Dr Rupel met UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.
Slovenian Foreign Minister Dimitrij Rupel and UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon discussed Kosovo on Saturday, agreeing that all involved parties should work together to solve the issue. "We emphasised that joint action is needed to achieve the common good," Rupel said in New York. More »
Kosovo was again at the forefront of talks as Slovenian Foreign Minister Dimitrij Rupel met US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice at the State Department in Washington on Monday. Rupel said they shared concern over the situation in the Western Balkans, and were keen to see progress as soon as possible. More »
Agriculture Minister Iztok Jarc and his Romanian counterpart Dacian Ciolos discussed cooperation between their ministries and countries' agricultural sectors on Friday, as Jarc started a two-day visit to Romania. The pair agreed that cooperation between the countries was good and that it would be strengthened in the future. More »
President Danilo Tuerk and Jordanian King Abdallah II agreed on Tuesday that relations between the countries were good and that Slovenia and Jordan should bolster ties, especially in business, as they met at Brdo pri Kranju. The pair also discussed the situation in the Middle East. More »
Economy Minister Andrej Vizjak met on Monday Vietnamese Industry and Trade Minister Vu Huy Hoang to discuss the proposal of a new EU regulation on the Generalised System of Preferences (GSP) for the 2009-2011 period, which envisages the exclusion of footwear of Vietnamese origin from the GSP framework. More »
Speaking at a meeting of the UN Social and Economic Council in New York on Monday, Slovenian Finance Minister Andrej Bajuk called for adequate measures for prevention of crisis similar to the current one, and for the strengthening of the role of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) with reforms. More »
Slovenian Prime Minister Janez Jansa and Alexei Miller, CEO of the Russian gas producer Gazprom, discussed in Ljubljana on Friday energy safety in Europe and the world, the prime minister's office said. Gazprom meanwhile said the talks concerned the South Stream project. More »
The management boards of the Slovenian and Bosnian telecoms incumbents confirmed their intent to cooperate in technology and services as they met in Ljubljana on Thursday. More »
The supervisory board of fuel trader Petrol, one of Slovenia's biggest companies, endorsed on Wednesday single tier management. The proposal, given by one of the company's major shareholders, is also supported by the management and will be put to vote at the annual general meeting on 15 May. More »
Seeking to strike a balance between reducing Co2 emissions with the use of biofuels and precluding adverse impacts such as deforestation, the EU is hard at work on sustainability criteria for the production of biofuels, Slovenian Environment Minister Janez Podobnik said on Saturday. More »
Human rights, education, the rule of law, energy and environment, water resources, climate change, drug trafficking, Afghanistan and Iran were the main topics of today’s plenary session of the EU Troika and the countries of Central Asia at the ministerial level. More »
Agriculture Minister Iztok Jarc said in Luxembourg on Monday after a meeting of EU ministers responsible for fisheries that opinions on the combat against illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing were very different, adding that there was still room for progress. More »
Top environment officials from the EU, candidate countries and EFTA members planted an avenue of 34 linden trees at the Brdo estate on Saturday, in what was a symbolic culmination of the informal meeting of EU environment ministers and a message of the importance of trees for the environment. More »
The Slovenian-run International Trust Fund for Demining (ITF) celebrated in Ljubljana on Friday its 10th anniversary. President Danilo Tuerk on the occasion expressed his satisfaction with great progress that had been made in demining in the last ten years. More »
The heads of parliamentary culture committees from EU member states and accession candidates are holding a one-day meeting in Ljubljana on Monday, dedicated to intercultural dialogue. The aim of the meeting is to raise the awareness of culture and intercultural dialogue, said Slovenia's Branko Grims. More »
The last day of the conference on intercultural dialogue entitled "Europe, the World and Humanity in the 21st Century" focused on the history and future of the idea of a united Europe, and the role of media in contemporary society. More »
A conference promoting innovation and creativity in education rounded off at Brdo pri Kranju on Thursday. "If Europe wants to stay one step ahead of the most developed regions, creativity must become a way of life," stressed Education Minister Milan Zver at the close of the conference. More »
Acroni Jesenice became on Wednesday the Slovenian ice-hockey champions for the 2007/08 season after defeating Olimpija from Ljubljana with 1:2 (0:2, 1:0, 0:0) to sweep the final series and take the 6th title since Slovenia's independence. More »
Slovenian judoka Petra Nareks won bronze in the up to 52 kg category at the European Judo Championships in Lisbon on Friday. However, her sixth medal at European Championships was not enough to secure her a berth at the Olympic Games in Beijing. More »
Slovenia placed 36th in the Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Report for 2008 published recently by the World Economic Forum (WEF). This improves Slovenia's ranking by eight places compared to last year, representatives of the Economy Ministry's tourism directorate said on Wednesday. More »