The Prime Minister of the Republic of Slovenia and current President of the European Council, Mr Janez Janša, today attended the opening of Slovenian Business Week in Ljubljana, in which entrepreneurs from Slovenia and the Western Balkan countries are taking part. In his address, the Prime Minister highlighted the major achievements and decisions of the first three months of the Slovenian EU Council Presidency, outlining several challenges facing the European and the world economy in coming decades.

 

(Photo: Bor Slana/Bobo)

 

“Linking knowledge more effectively with the economy is still one of the key challenges. Last year, there was not a single company from the European Union among the ten most innovative companies in the world. The European Council responded to this situation with a number of measures under the heading of the fifth freedom,” said the Prime Minister, emphasising that the fifth freedom involved removing barriers to the free movement of knowledge and the mobility of students, researchers, lecturers, enterprises and all entities and individuals engaged in any way in research. The process based on the removal of all obstacles to the free movement of knowledge has been named the Ljubljana Process after yesterday’s informal meeting of EU Ministers responsible for competitiveness, research and innovation.

 

Prime Minister Janez Janša said that the Spring European Council had also adopted key commitments on the energy and climate change package. One of these is the transition to low-carbon production that will require extensive restructuring and could therefore be regarded as the beginning of a new industrial revolution. “The European Union has set out a timetable enabling the transition to low-carbon production to be implemented in real time, while at the same time keeping a rein on costs. Although it entails some expenditure, the passage towards low-carbon production is also a great opportunity for the European economy,” added the Prime Minister.

 

(Photo: Bor Slana/Bobo)

 

At the close of his address, the Prime Minister advocated a future in Europe for the Western Balkan countries, and stressed that membership of the European Union constituted one of the factors in facilitating business operations and increasing competitiveness. “Slovenia’s exports to European Union Member States have doubled in the last seven years. This would have been impossible if Slovenia had not become part of the European market,” he concluded.