The Slovenia Times

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EU Presidency

The Big Challenge

03.08.2007

By Barbara Štor

Slovenia will become the first new member of the European Union to hold the rotating presidency of the block. The country will take over the role in 2008 and is eager to prove it is up to the task of managing the 27-nation group.

With a population of two million, Slovenia will be the smallest country (except for Luxembourg) to lead the EU. Running the European Union is a demanding job for the largest members, let alone a small one.

For six months, Slovenia will be in the spotlight of European as well as global attention. This will bring some good opportunities but also difficulties, as Slovenia will face some serious challenges. For example: with fewer civil servants than any major country, Slovenia will have to smoothly run the 4,000-odd meetings and eight ministerial get-togethers of the EU presidency. Furthermore, the Slovenian language is not yet very familiar to European diplomacy and there might be some difficulties in finding enough interpreters and translators.

Unanimous support
Despite hesitations over the staff requirements and financial costs for such a major project, the Slovenian parliament in 2004 voted unanimously for the proposal of Slovenia being a part of the troika making up the EU presidency. Specifically, the new EU constitution imagined the presidency being shared by three members and Slovenia was scheduled to “triple-share” the position with Portugal and Germany. In parliamentary debate, the relatively high costs of the presidency were decided to be worth the chance of leading the European Union and enhancing Slovenia’s image worldwide.

The costs
The six-month EU presidency will cost Slovenia approximately 62 million euros. The sum is five million euros higher than anticipated. Some of the money will go towards hiring additional civil servants, and certain new investments will also be necessary. For example, new facilities around the diplomatic centre in Brdo, near Kranj, and also in other places like Bled, Portorož and Ljubljana. Nevertheless, the authorities are convinced that the expenses will pay off because the country will become familiar to 26 members of the EU with a population nearing half a billion.

The tasks
From January 1st to June 30th 2008, Slovenia will take over three important sets of tasks: managing the work of all the compositions of the Council of the EU and the European Council, representing the Council of the EU in relation to other EU institutions and representing the European Union in international community. All the work will be oriented towards finding solutions that are a result of cooperation among the 27 member states, while simultaneously taking into account the standpoints of the European Commission and the European Parliament.

The objectives
Slovenia’s priorities during its presidency will include four key areas: realization of the Lisbon strategy, integration of the western Balkan region into the EU, energy and climate change, and dialogue among various cultures and societies. Slovenia also hopes to advance EU expansion to other parts of ex-Yugoslavia, such as neighbouring Croatia. Another objective of the presidency will be to achieve progress in the work of the European Union. According to the words of Janez Janša, the prime minister, the Slovenian authorities hope everything “is to run it smoothly”.

Meticulous preparations
The EU Presidency is an important and demanding project for Slovenia and will include a vast number of experts in various significant areas. A core working group was established, consisting of the Prime Minister, the State Secretary for European Affairs, the Foreign Minister, and the ministers of Finance and Public Administration. Five sub-groups fall beneath them, responsible for programming, communications, logistics, the budget and staffing. All line ministries and other bodies also participate in the Presidency preparations. Furthermore, to prepare for the upcoming challenge, the office for European Affairs has been in regular contact with smaller older member states that have held the EU presidency in the past and can share their experiences, like Ireland and Luxembourg.

Although no one can say with certainty what the future holds, Slovenia has been eagerly preparing for what it believes will be the major challenge of 2008. The Slovenian officials have so far faced the obstacles and have proven themselves to be quite efficient and with the help of Portugal and Germany, they have been working diligently for this most important event in 2008.