NEWS

Prime Minister’s press conference

At today’s 65th regular session, the Slovenian Government, alongside other resolutions, adopted the Decree amending the Decree on the implementation of the Republic of Slovenia Guarantee Scheme Act and gave its consent to the programme of work and the financial plan of the  Public Agency of the Republic of Slovenia for Entrepreneurship and Foreign Investments for the period 2010-2011. The Slovenian Prime Minister, Borut Pahor, and the responsible ministers outlined the major resolutions, and Mr Pahor then answered a number of topical questions.

   

(Foto: Matej Leskovšek/STA)

 

Prime Minister Pahor first expressed his satisfaction with today’s statement given by the OECD Secretary-General that  Slovenia might become a full member of this Organisation by the end of May  this year and added that "Slovenia would therewith complete the circle of its integration into international institutions, which also means a recognition of the work performed by all previous governments that fulfilled the conditions  necessary for Slovenia to be fully integrated in the circle of these prestigious countries before summer."

 

He went on to say that today he also entrusted the ministers with a demanding task of speeding up the preparation of law proposals that refer to the exit strategy document.  The law proposals will first be discussed by the Government and later on also as part of the social dialogue in the Social and Economic Council and in the National Assembly.   "Now, Slovenia has the opportunity to undertake in the first half of this year all steps that are necessary to exceed the European Union average", said the Prime Minister, adding that this requires the establishment of a dynamic  equilibrium between competitiveness and social cohesion leading Slovenia to the first circle of EU Member States.

 

Mr Pahor also said that next week the Government will discuss the draft Minimum Wage Act and the Personal Income Tax Act and assured that both draft acts will be adopted by the end of January and submitted to the National Assembly for discussion.   In this context, he reiterated the need for a balance between the two key objectives, i.e. competitiveness of enterprises and stabilisation of public finances. 

  

At today’s session, the Government of the Republic of Slovenia adopted the Decree amending the Decree on the implementation of the Republic of Slovenia Guarantee Scheme Act  to be published in the Uradni list RS [Official Gazette of the Republic of Slovenia]. The amendments to the Decree were necessary in particular due to the amendments to the Temporary Community framework for State aid measures to support access to finance in the current financial and economic crisis. The amendments to the Decree refer to the provision on the calculation of the total annual wage bill, which means that in accordance with the stated amendments to the Temporary Community framework  a criterion will be added regarding average labour costs determined by the Statistical Office of the European Communities (EUROSTAT), amounting to EUR 3,028 per person.  

  

The ministers today also adopted the resolution on undergraduate study programmes in the academic year 2010/2011 at the University of Ljubljana, the University of Maribor, the University of Primorska, the University of Nova Gorica and in independent higher-education institutions, and the resolution granting the consent to the content of the tender for the enrolment into undergraduate study programmes in the academic year 2010/2011. 

  

The Government of the Republic of Slovenia also gave its consent to the programme of work and the financial plan of the Public Agency of the Republic of Slovenia for Entrepreneurship and Foreign Investments (JAPTI) for the period 2010-2011. In the following two years, JAPTI will continue to apply the key measures for the development of entrepreneurship and competitiveness of the Slovenian economy giving priority to the reconstruction and adjustment of the measures to the needs of target user groups.  The measures refer in particular to the promotion of entrepreneurship and entrepreneurial culture, the promotion of innovation in enterprises and the improvement of conditions for the development and transfer of knowledge into economy, the promotion of foreign direct investments and the increase of recognisability of Slovenia as an appropriate location for such investments, and also to direct financial incentives for the development of enterprises and the achievement of greater competitiveness of the Slovenian economy.