The Prime Minister of the Republic of Slovenia, Janez Janša, today is attending the seminar on the EU Presidency organized for Ministers and State Secretaries. Guests from Great Britain, Denmark and Austria will be sharing their experiences with the Presidency of the EU.
FOTO: Nebojša Tejić/Salomon 2000
The Prime Minister announced that Slovenia is about to conclude the first phase of preparations for its Presidency of the EU in the first half of 2008. He explained that the first phase mainly included planning, readying the first draft of priorities of the Presidency and preparations in terms of staffing, drawing up financial and other plans, as well as enlisting the sharing of experiences and cooperation with those countries that have already presided over the EU. "A part of this programme is being implemented today when our colleagues from Great Britain, Denmark and Austria share their specific experiences, acquired during their EU Presidencies, with respect to drawing up programmes, staff preparations and cooperation between different compositions of the Council and the European Parliament, European institutions and, undoubtedly, with respect to the specific experiences of ministers and members of the Government of the presiding state in shaping and coordinating the Council's activities. In this context, the most valuable experiences are those that point to timely preparations and accurate planning for the half of the year in question. Today the discussion focuses mainly on these topics," said the Prime Minister.
Today's seminar represents an important step in preparation at the highest level, since almost all ministers and the majority of state secretaries are attending it. So far, many meetings and seminars have been held for the second, third and fourth level of state administration to participate in the Presidency; however, by the end of this year, this phase of preparations will conclude, and in January of next year the second phase will start. The Prime Minister underlined that the second phase of preparations for the EU Presidency is marked not only by practical matters and training for a successful Presidency and EU leadership, but also by enhanced familiarization with the issues that the EU is to address during our Presidency. According to the Prime Minister, this will be more than familiarization with issues at the general European level; it will be familiarization with issues within the EU Member States – issues having a direct effect on shaping common decisions. "Considering the Government's timetable for this term of office, the most extensive work in the area of economic and social reforms will be concluded by the end of this year. We also expect that key legislation will have been completed by the end of this year, leaving the Government enough time to accelerate the preparations and successfully implement the second phase as well. For a successful EU Presidency, it is of utmost importance that the country presiding over the European Council and its different compositions be well acquainted with the broader situation at the common European level, as well as the situation in the EU Member States themselves, in particular in confronting issues on which the common European agenda is at a standstill," concluded the Prime Minister.
