http://www.svlr.gov.si/en/eu_presidency/

Slovenian EU Presidency.

In December 2004 the Council of the European Union (hereinafter: the Council of the EU) appointed Slovenia as the first of the new member states to preside over the Council of the EU. Slovenia will hold the EU Presidency from 1 January 2008 to 30 June 2008. During this period Slovenia will take over three important sets of tasks:

1. managing the work of all the compositions of the Council of the EU and the European Council
2. representing the Council of the EU in relation to other EU institutions
3. representing the European Union in international community.

During this period Slovenia will organise about 200 events at all levels at home, in Brussels and elsewhere in the world where the presidency events will take place. It is important to follow the principles of neutrality and objectivity for the presidency to be successful. The objective of the presidency is to achieve progress in the work of the European Union. The manner of work, in line with this objective, mainly involves finding solutions which are a result of a compromise among the 27 member states, but at the same time taking into account the standpoints of the European Commission and the European Parliament. In deliberation management the chairman, thus, tries to avoid partial interests, but is, at the same time, left with ‘the power of the writer’ as s/he is the one who calls the meetings, forms meeting agendas, manages them and suggests conclusions.

EU Presidency is an important and demanding project for Slovenia which will include a vast number of experts in various substantive areas, and also those in charge of the organisation and implementation of events – they also assure that everything goes according to programme and as successfully as possible.

Documents about the Slovenian Presidency of the EU will be available at above website.

Slovenian EU Presidency – Government Communication Office.
Slovenian EU Presidency & GOLR.

Government Office for Local Self-Government and Regional Policy (GOLR) is in the phase of intensive preparations for the project of the Slovenian EU Presidency. Meetings of the project group for the project of the presidency are held regularly within the GOLR framework; the group is led by Mr. Ivo Piry: ivo.piry(at)gov.si. All the conclusions of these meetings are available at the intranet portal for the support of the Slovenia EU Presidency.

During the Slovenia EU Presidency GOLR is the competent authority for two working groups within the framework of the Council of the EU:

1. Working Group for Structural Measures
2. Working Group for the Outmost Regions

The chairman of both working groups will be Mr. Miran Vatovec: miran.vatovec(at)gov.si, the vice chairman will be Mr. Primož Ilešič: primoz.ilesic(at)gov.si.

During the Slovenian EU Presidency GOLR will be working closely with the Committee of the Regions.
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DID YOU KNOW THAT…

…the important symbol of the Slovenes is the lime or the lime leaf respectively? The mother of all Slovenian limes is the Najevska lipa (Najevska lime), which is over 780 years old and 12,5 meters in height. Since Slovenia declared its independence in 1991, many Slovenians and important Slovenian political leaders have met under the lime.

The Coat of arms:
The national coat of arms of Slovenia is a shield in the middle of which, on a blue background, is a representation of Mt. Triglav in white, under which are two undulating blue lines which represent the sea and rivers and above which are located three golden, six-pointed stars forming a downward-pointing triangle. The shield is bordered in red. The design of the shield is in accordance with accepted principles of geometry and colour.

The Flag: