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Janez Poto»nik
SLOVENIA’S EuROPEAN COMMISSIONER FOR SCIENCE ANd
RESEARCH:
THE PRESIdENCy wENT wELL, bOTH
ORGANIzATIONALLy ANd SubSTANTIVELy
SPEAkING
The Slovenian Presidency took place during a heightened global
economic problem, financial instability, and growing energy and
food prices. It went well, both organizationally and substantionally
speaking. This is an evaluation that practically everybody agrees on.
We had a great and difficult task, so we can justly be proud
of the work we have done. The cooperation with the European
Commission was an example of how it should be done, and it
is best described by the words of the President of the European
Commission, José Manuel Barroso, who said: ‘You have done a
great job, devoted, extremely fair, politically and intellectually,
patient and professional.’
An important side-effect of the Slovenian Presidency was also
the familiarisation with the workings of the European Union first
hand − for the administration, as well as for the politicians. An
invaluable lesson, with long-term effects.
The rejection of the referendum on the Lisbon Treaty in Ireland,
which happened in “the final metres of our Presidency”,
reopened some important questions on the future of European
coexistence. Instead of a strong Europe, what remains after our
Presidency is a Europe full of questions and uncertainty, which
adds a bitter taste to our successes.
Slovenia has also left a mark in the field I am responsible for
inside the European Commission. At the spring summit of the
EU, a fifth liberty was adopted − the free flow of knowledge.
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In my opinion, this is one of the greatest achievements of our
Presidency. It enables the development of the European Research
Area (ERA) and will have long-term positive effects. One should
also add the beginning of the so-called Ljubljana Process. The
decision was taken by the EU Ministers in charge of science, and
it is the beginning of an in-depth debate on partnership between
Member States and the Commission on the management of the
European Research Area. The goal is to create a unified and
efficient European research area.
In every way, the Presidency has increased Slovenia’s recognisability
in Europe and the world. Lack of recognisability was one of the
greatest problems marking our way into the European Union. This
problem, of course, can not be solved in just 6 months, but there
is no better promotion for our country, for the strengthening of
our reputation, with all its consequences, including economic.
Organisationally, we have proved ourselves once more. The Brdo
congressional centre proved itself as a technically advanced and
secure solution. Even though the Presidency did not present the
European stage with great new ideas, it successfully completed
the ones that were planned, undoubtedly with the help of the
pro-European direction of our government and country.
Goran ForBici, Jože Gornik, tina
DivJak, tina Michieli
NON-GOVERNMENTAL ORGANISATIONS :
STANdARdS wERE SET THAT CAN
bE A GOOd ExAMPLE FOR FuTuRE
PRESIdENCIES
The pathway we walked in the six months of the Slovenian EU
Council Presidency was very tiring for many people, for some even
rather thorny. However, we may rejoice at our successes. We have
shown in these six months that even little ones can be great.
This is doubtlessly also true for Slovenian non-governmental
organisations (NGO). Although the EU Council is considered the
most closed of all EU institutions, the past half year has confirmed
experiences of the NGOs from those EU Member States that have
already presided over the EU Council in the past and where the
Presidency enabled civil society to be involved more actively into
the decision processes.
It is no wonder that Slovenian NGOs also wanted to participate
actively in the Presidency and its preparations. We not only
saw an opportunity to be more strongly engaged in EU topics,
to establish new contacts and to promote our activities at the
European level and thereby to acknowledge NGOs as important
civil and social actors, but we were also guided by a strong belief
that cooperation with NGOs would contribute significantly to the
Presidency’s success.
Already in June 2006, a group of Slovenian NGOs had therefore
addressed a proposal to the Slovenian Government on how
NGOs could be involved. The proposal was positively accepted
by the Government and the result was an agreement on mutual
cooperation in the field of information concluded with the
Government Communication Office. It was the first time that
a Slovenian state authority had signed such agreement, which
was later a sound basis for dialogue, information exchange and
mutual aid.
The essence of the proposal addressed to the Government by
the NGOs anticipated inclusion of NGO and wider society in
the Presidency using the internet and tools of information and
communication technology. Supported by the Government
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