Western Balkans

*This designation is without prejudice to positions on status, and is in line with UNSCR 1244 and the ICJ Opinion on the Kosovo declaration of independence.

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News archive - Slovenia's EU Presidency started on January 1, 2008

Slovenia is assuming the responsibility of the EU's rotating six-month presidency on January 1, 2008. It has stated its goals in research policy and is generally expected to shift the foreign-policy attention to the Western Balkans.
Slovenia's priorities during the six-month presidency include implementation of the Lisbon strategy, integration of Western Balkans into the EU, energy and climate change, as well as fostering the dialogue among various cultures and societies.

Slovenia faces a major opportunity in the chance to direct the EU's attention to issues that are of particular interest to the holder of the presidency. Ljubljana has already said it wants the EU to focus on the Western Balkans, and in particular Kosovo/UNMIK , during the next six months (in contrast to Portugal's focus on Africa).

Slovenia will make every effort to advance the European perspective of the countries of the Western Balkans, in line with the Salzburg and Thessaloniki Agendas, which outline a number of concrete measures. This will also be the central topic of the informal meeting of foreign ministers of EU member states and of countries of the Western Balkans to be held during Slovenia's Presidency on March 28-29, 2008 at Brdo pri Kranju.

Slovenian Foreign Minister Dimitrij Rupel sees the region as its primary responsibility as the current EU presidency. "This will be our contribution to stabilizing the part of Europe which has been most affected by events at the end of the 20th century," he said.

Slovenia's global agenda will be dominated by two well-established EU concerns -- climate change and energy. Another key EU preoccupation will be immigration. 2008 was proclaimed also "the year of intercultural dialogue."

Competitiveness

In research, the priority tasks in the field of technology development during Slovenia’s Presidency are as follows:

linking knowledge institutions and companies
strengthening the ERA (European Research Area) – especially in the field of industrial research (Eureka, Eurostars, JTI, etc.)
intersectoral mobility (the transfer of personnel between the public and private sectors)
introduction of the SRA (Strategic Research Agenda) of European Technology Platforms

Entrepreneurship is vital for increasing competitiveness in Slovenia as well as in the European Union.

Websites

Dobrodosli to the website of the Slovenian Presidency of the Council of the EU: www.eu2008.si.
There is also a CORDIS website by the Slovenian presidency on http://cordis.europa.eu/slovenia/presidency/

Source and further information:
Slovenian Presidency Homepage RFERL