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Prime Minister Janez Janša meets EU Environment Commissioner Janez Potočnik

The Prime Minister of the Republic of Slovenia, Janez Janša, today met with the European Commissioner for the Environment, Dr Janez Potočnik, who is on official visit to the Republic of Slovenia.

 

The two dignitaries discussed the negotiations on the future multi-annual financial framework of the European Union, and Commissioner Potočnik particularly emphasised the greening of the future Common Agricultural Policy. In respect of cohesion policy, the Commissioner mentioned the benefits of the proposal put forward by the European Commission regarding the phasing out of funds to more developed regions. According to the Commission proposal for the period 2014-2020, the western region of Slovenia is still to receive two-thirds of the present level of assistance despite the fact that it is ranked among highly developed regions. Mr Janša and Mr Potočnik agreed that Slovenia should focus more attention on areas, such as air quality, the waste issue, and, to a certain extent, the implementation of environmental legislation.  They also touched on the progress of negotiations on drafting a joint statement to be adopted at the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio + 20).