The Slovenian MEP Alojz Peterle played the EU anthem on his harmonica in the European Parliament on 18 April,to applause from other MEPs.

That is all

STA, 16 April 2019 - Prime Minister Marjan Šarec called for a European Commission that would consistently implement the rule of law and respect small member states as he gave an interview for Politico. His vote for the next European Commission chief will go to Margrethe Vestager (ALDE).

In the interview, Šarec took issue with the Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker for implying that small EU members did not have the same status as large countries such as France, and for not taking sides in the border dispute between Slovenia and Croatia.

Šarec suggested that the soft-handed approach could have been politically motivated since Juncker and the ruling Croatian party belonged to the same European Parliament group, the centre-right European People's Party (EPP).

He said that the Commission should have urged Croatia to respect the border decision, which was handed down in Slovenia's favour by an international arbitration panel in 2017, adding that the decision was valid no matter the surrounding controversy.

"We need a European Commission which will obey the rule of law ... we need a Commission which will be less political," said Šarec, pointing out that Vestager, his choice for the next Commission chief, had a "common sense" vision for the EU.

Hailing from Denmark, Vestager also has more understanding for small member states, according to Šarec. Both of them belong to the ALDE alliance of European liberal parties, with the competition commissioner being considered the party's top candidate for the Commission presidency.

He also called for an EU which would be faster at making decisions and expressed his disapproval of the Spitzenkandidat process, describing it as "not legal" and "not democratic".

Commenting on European Parliament President Antonio Tajani's recent controversial remarks, which implied Italy's territorial claims on parts of Slovenia and Croatia, Šarec called them an outrageous example of WWII revisionism and declared Tajani unfit for his office.

He urged taking measures that the next European Parliament president would not be someone who advocated such problematic statements and views.

Politico also addressed Šarec's stand-up past, pointing out that a number of former comedians have started performing in the EU political arena in recent years.

The Slovenian prime minister welcomed this trend, saying that some characteristics were useful in both worlds, including being observant, brave and a quick learner, as well as a performer skilled at reading people.

STA, 15 April 2019 - EU member states gave the final stamp of approval on Monday to the directive on copyright in the single digital market. Nineteen states voted yes, six were against, with three, including Slovenia, abstaining.

EU members have two years to transpose the new rules, which were adopted despite the criticism of facilitating censorship on the internet, into national law, whereupon the directive will enter into force.

The Slovenian Permanent Representation at the EU explained Slovenia had abstained because it believed the final compromise did not sufficiently reflect the interests of the majority of Slovenian stakeholders.

The German news agency dpa reported that if another country, for instance Germany, had voted no or abstained today, the new directive would have fallen through.

According to the French press agency AFP, voting against were Italy, Finland, Sweden, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Poland, whereas the other two countries abstaining were Estonia and Belgium.

When the European Parliament voted on the directive on 26 February, the majority of Slovenia's MEPs rejected it, mostly arguing it undermined internet freedom. Only three of Slovenia's eight MEPs backed it.

However, Slovenian creatives welcomed the Parliament's yes vote, with its fiercest opponents, among then the opposition Left and the non-parliamentary Pirate Party, labelling it a "catastrophe" and a "dark day for the internet".

The directive is part of the EU's reform of copyright law designed to adjust it to the digital age. In today's press release, the EU Council said it provided an adequate degree of protection of authors and artists, at the same time bringing new opportunities to access and share copyrighted works around the EU.

The directive was put forward by the European Commission in September 2016, but it took two years of talks and adjustments for the European Parliament, the EU Council and the Commission to arrive at a compromise last February.

STA, 15 April 2019 - Slovenian MEPs have been active in a number of different fields in the past five-year term. The eight of them listed for the STA their achievements, reflecting above all their work in parliamentary committees. Among other things, each of them has been a member or a substitute member of a committee dealing with issues of the Western Balkans.

Ivo Vajgl (ALDE/DeSUS) was among the most active Slovenian MEPs as regards foreign policy and the Western Balkans. He highlighted his efforts as the European Parliament rapporteur for Macedonia, "which we helped steer onto the European path".

Vajgl, who will not run again this year, was also a member of a task force dealing with issues of the elderly, which managed to get this topic onto the parliament's agenda.

Together with Igor Šoltes (Greens), who will succeed Vajgl on the ticket of the Pensioners' Party (DeSUS) in May election, Vajgl nominated the programme Elderly for the Elderly for the Citizen of Europe 2017 award.

The project, which went on to win the award, "includes what is often missing in Europe: empathy, solidarity and true humanity," said Šoltes, who has also been active in the fields of environmental and consumer protection, filing a motion to exclude food orders from the public procurement system in order to serve locally-grown food in schools, hospitals and retirement homes.

Romana Tomc of the (EPP/SDS) is proud of her "fight of the small against the big", as her warnings had led to the launch of infringement procedure against Austria for cutting child benefits for Slovenians working in Austria.

Tomc also strived against youth unemployment and highlighted her work in an investigative committee that looked into money laundering at the Slovenian bank NLB.

Her party colleague Patricija Šulin (EPP/SDS), a member of the budgets committee, was also active in the field of finance, serving as member of the parliament's delegation in talks with the European Commission and the European Council.

She also highlighted that she managed to speed up the drafting of a report that provided Slovenia EUR 18m in funds following an ice storm that devastated much of Slovenian forests in 2014.

Tanja Fajon (S&D/SD) told the STA that she acquired for Slovenia additional EUR 70m in the next financial perspective to improve border security and migration management.

"Slovenia has a long Schengen border and long traffic jams and we will try to reduce this burden, while on the other hand ensuring that Schengen is preserved," Fajon told the STA, adding that she was also fighting against "current illegal practices of border controls within the Schengen zone, such as those between Slovenia and Austria."

Franc Bogovič (EPP/SLS) is dedicated to regional development issues, being a member of the regional development committee. He campaigned for the launch of the Smart Villages pilot project, which aims to stop the young moving from the countryside and against the trend of people moving from the less to the more developed parts of the EU.

"The regional development fund will provide EUR 13.5bn for this field and EUR 2.4bn for smart villages," said Bogovič, expressing pride in what he has achieved.

Milan Zver (EPP/SDS), a rapporteur for the culture and education committee, highlighted as one of his biggest achievements a threefold increase in funds for the Erasmus exchange programme. "I find this very important because there has always been too little money when it came to Erasmus and youth policy."

He is also happy that one of the conference halls at the parliament has been named after Slovenian dissident Jože Pučnik.

Lojze Peterle (EPP/NSi) meanwhile said he was proud to have enabled a paid internship at the parliament for 60 youths. He also contributed to the decision of the EPP to make cancer one of its priorities in the next term.

All our stories on this year's EU elections, including details of how to vote, can be found here

STA, 15 April 2019 - Slovenian members of the European Parliament tend to vote in accordance with their Eurogroup, and have high attendance in votes in plenary meetings of the European Parliament, data from VoteWatch show.

Patricija Šulin (EPP/SDS) has attended 95% of votings in the European Parliament, ranking her first among Slovenian MEPs. Tanja Fajon (S&D/SD) ranked last, at 82%. Slovenian MEPs' attendance averages about 90%.

Other parliamentary duties may cause MEPs to be absent from votings, according to VoteWatch. This is why Antonio Tajani, the President of the European Parliament, "only" attended 38% of the votings. This, however, is not an accurate measure for their activity and achievements.

Slovenian MEPs are extremely loyal to the political opinions of their Eurogroup. On average, they agree on around 96% of issues. The only discrepancy is Ivo Vajgl (Alde/DeSUS) whose agreement measures at around 90%.

Slovenia has five MEPs in the European People's Party (EPP), and one each in the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats (S&D), the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE), and the Greens.

Tanja Fajon is the only Slovenian to be featured on VoteWatch's list of 70 most influential MEPs, probably because of her work as the vice-president of the S&D group. According to the site, Slovenian deputies seem to be the most influential in policy matters concerning the Western Balkans.

MEPs' activities can be tracked through two main web-based tools, VoteWatch and MEPranking, each of which relies on a different set of methods. Both have come under fire in the past because of their methodology.

Some MEPs were among the critics, arguing that arbitrarily quantifying their activity was not an accurate measure for their work.

On the other hand, these tools allow citizens of the European Union to view their elected representatives' activity and compare their voting with their own stance on issues, among other things.

More data on this can be found here

All our stories on this year's EU elections, including details of how to vote, can be found here

STASTA, 15 April 219 - Slovenian voters have gone to the polls to elect MEPs three times so far - in 2004, 2009 and 2014, with most of the support in all three elections going to parties belonging to the European People's Party (EPP). The only Slovenian to win an MEP seat in all three elections is Lojze Peterle of New Slovenia (NSi/EPP).

Slovenia joined the EU in May 2004 and its voters had the opportunity to elect seven MEPs a month later, with centre-right parties winning the 13 June elections convincingly.

EPP members got four seats as Slovenians elected Lojze Peterle and Ljudmila Novak from the NSi, and Miha Brejc and Romana Jordan Cizelj from the Democrats (SDS).

The remaining three MEPs were Jelko Kacin and Mojca Drčar Murko from the Liberal Democrats (LDS), who joined the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE), and Borut Pahor from the Social Democrats (SD), who joined the Party of European Socialists (PES).

The NSi won most of the vote (23.6%), followed by a joint ticket of the LDS and the Pensioners' Party (DeSUS) with 21.9%, the SDS with 17.7% and the SD with 14.2%.

The group associating conservative and centre-right parties was also the winner at the EU level, wining a total of 272 seats in the 732-member European Parliament.

Turnout in Slovenia (28.4%) was significantly lower than in the 25 EU member states on average (45.5%).

In 2009, when the European Parliament elections were held in 27 countries, members of the EPP also won most of the vote, with the SDS getting 26.7% of the vote, followed by the SD (18.5%), the NSi (16.5%), the LDS (11.5%) and Zares (9.8%).

Elected as MEPs were Romana Jordan Cizelj and Milan Zver (EPP/SDS), Lojze Peterle (EPP/NSi), Zoran Thaler and Tanja Fajon (PES/SD), Jelko Kacin (ALDE/LDS) and Ivo Vajgl (ALDE/Zares).

Thaler resigned in 2011 after journalists posing as lobbyists exposed him as one of four MEPs accepting the offer of a bribe in exchange for tabling amendments in the European Parliament. He was replaced by Mojca Kleva (PES/SD).

The EPP also won the elections at the EU level convincingly, getting 263 MEPs in the 736-seat European Parliament.

As the European Parliament was enlarged in December 2011 with changes to the Lisbon Treaty, Slovenia received an additional, eighth seat, which went to Zofija Mazej Kukovič from the SDS.

In addition to the extra seats, changes to the treaty also brought certain restructuring of political groups, with the EPP having a total of 274, the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats (S&D) 195 and ALDE 85 MEPs at the end of the term.

While turnout in Slovenia remained almost flat at 28.37%, it dropped somewhat in the EU as a whole (42.97%).

The 2014 EU elections, which were held in 28 member states as Croatia joined the bloc the year earlier, were marked by a rise of Eurosceptics and ALDE losing the third place in the European Parliament to the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR).

Out of the total of 751 MEP seats, the EPP got 221 and the S&D 191, while following far behind were the ECR (70) and ALDE (67).

In Slovenia, the EPP again won most of the vote, with the SDS winning three seats, for Milan Zver, Romana Tomc and Patricija Šulin, and the People's Party (SLS) and the NSi winning one each, for Franc Bogovič and Lojze Peterle, respectively.

In addition to Zver, elected for their second terms were Tanja Fajon (S&D/SD) and Ivo Vajgl, who ran on the ticket of DeSUS, while also making it to the European Parliament was Igor Šoltes, who ran with his own party Believe.

The SDS received 24.8% of the vote, followed by the joint ticket of the NSi and the SLS (16.6%), Believe (10.3%), and the SD and DeSUS (around 8% each).

The declining turnout trend continued, reaching record-lows of 42.6% at the EU level and 24.5% in Slovenia.

All our stories on this year's EU elections, including details of how to vote, can be found here

STA, 11 April 2019 - Participants of panel on Brexit hosted by the British-Slovenian Chamber of Commerce agreed on Thursday that the deadline extension means more time for the best possible solution, meaning one based on a deal.

British Ambassador to Slovenia Sophie Honey believes the extension of Brexit until 31 October does not mean a prolongation of uncertainty but more time for the best possible approach.

UK Trade Commissioner for Europe Andrew Mitchell highlighted the close trade ties between the UK and the EU, pointing out trade with EU countries accounted for more than half of Britain's foreign trade last year.

He said a no-deal Brexit would have substantial consequences for the economy and agreed the extension provides an opportunity to reach a deal and enable the firm economic ties to be preserved in the future.

The UK wants a detailed free trade agreement with the EU that would cover customs and regulatory cooperation so as to allow companies to continue to trade in a similar fashion they are doing now, Mitchell said.

As for the Brexit-related developments in the British parliament, Honey spoke of the biggest challenge for the government in several generations, while Mitchell believes time will show that this was the "most profound democratic exercise".

Honey stressed on the sidelines of the event that the UK has been part of the EU for 45 years. EU membership touches on practically all facets of life, while the referendum result was 52% vs 48%, which is why she feels it is normal that an extensive discussion is under way now in the UK.

The uncertainty regarding future relations has so far not shown in the trade between the UK and Slovenia - Slovenian exports rose by 11% last year, while imports from the UK were up 15%.

However, similar growth should not be expected after Brexit, said the head of the Foreign Ministry sector for bilateral economy cooperation Iztok Grmek.

A number of companies who do business with the UK also attended the event, but they were left without concrete answers regarding what they can expect after Brexit.

One example is aircraft maintenance firm Adria Tehnika, whose key client is the British air carrier Easyjet.

"We participated in the transfer of a part of their fleet from the British to the Austrian registry last year, but part of the fleet remains registered in the British registry. The question is what this means in terms of customs duties and the license and whether we should seek a special license with the English registry," Adria Tehnika's commercial director Mirjana Tratnjek Čeh illustrated.

All out stories on Brexit are here

STA, 10 April 2019 - Prime Minister Marjan Šarec has expressed regret about the European Commission's lukewarm response to the media reports that Croatia had been behind the border arbitration scandal and that it had even tried to prevent the revelations from being published.

Arriving in Brussels on Wednesday for an EU summit dedicated to Brexit, Šarec said he had expected the Commission call for respect for the rule of law and declare pressure on the media unacceptable, in particular when they came from a neighbour country.

Šarec also commented on criticism at home that he was trying to create a state of emergency ahead of the EU elections. "There's no state of emergency. We have responded to the pressure, we've convened the National Security Council because there was a series of initiatives for that, and I find that's right."

"We cannot be humble all the time, turning the other cheek, we must speak out when things are wrong. We've done that too. This doesn't mean we're creating a state of emergency, there's no state of emergency," Šarec said.

Related: A timeline of the Slovenia-Croatia border dispute

The National Security Council met yesterday in the wake of a report by the commercial broadcaster POP TV that an intermediary working on behalf of the Croatian government had sought to prevent its news portal from running a story last week proving that the Croatian intelligence agency was responsible for intercepting the phone calls between Slovenia's judge and agent in the border arbitration in July 2015, which Croatia used as an excuse to withdraw from the arbitration process.

He said that it was a perfectly justified reaction to summon the Slovenian ambassador to Croatia to come to Ljubljana to explain the situation, and to summon the Croatian ambassador for talks, which was to show Slovenia as a sovereign country with its own position.

"If in the past our leaders were too servile, I cannot help it. I act the way I think is right," he said.

Asked whether he planned to discuss the matter with his Croatian counterpart Andrej Plenković and EU leaders, Šarec said that he always exchanged a few words with Plenković at the summit and that they would also have a word at the summit of China and 16 central and east European countries in Croatia's Split on Thursday.

"As far as I know Croatian journalists have joined in the protest against such interference in the media," Šarec said, referring to the Trade Union of Croatian Journalists backing the Slovenian Journalists' Association in condemning the pressure on POP TV.

Provided an opportunity, Šarec plans to have a word about the issue with Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, but he does not believe he will get any other answer from the one already issued by the Commission. "The time has obviously come for elections and for change," he said.

Šarec will tell Plenković that the rule of law must be observed and that pressure on the media is unacceptable, he said. "We expect Croatia to refrain from such acts, to implement the arbitration award as soon as possible, and to stop with the practice that is not in Slovenia's or Croatia's interests."

The European Commission did not wish to comment on the revelations yesterday, saying this was a bilateral affair. The Commission reacted in a similar way the day before when asked to comment on Hungary's protest over the cover of the Mladina magazine portraying the Hungarian PM.

Šarec – May “brings nothing new to the table” on Brexit

STA, 10 April 2019 - Slovenia continues to support as short a delay of Brexit as possible, Prime Minister Marjan Šarec said as he arrived for the latest EU's Brexit summit in Brussels on Wednesday. We fear that Britain, should it hold the EU election and stay a member, would not be constructive, he said.

"You know how it is in politics. There are no guarantees in politics. All these safeguards to be adopted potentially can only be political. Should for instance a change of power occur in Great Britain, we have no way of knowing who comes after Theresa May and how they would behave," the Slovenian PM said in his doorstep statement.

He reiterated that what mattered most was not Britain but how the EU will function. "In case a blockade occurred, if we found ourselves in a situation where the institutions are blocked, we'd be in serious trouble."

Šarec does not know what to expect from tonight's developments, arguing that "Theresa May arrives each time to explain things while she brings nothing new to put on the table".

All our stories on Slovenia and Brexit are here

STA, 9 April 2019 - Foreign Minister Miro Cerar and his visiting Spanish counterpart Josep Borrell supported an orderly Brexit as the best option after talks in Ljubljana on Tuesday, indicating they were not opposed to another delay. The pair expressed their countries' mutual interest in a further enhancement of bilateral ties.

"A no-deal Brexit is not desired but it's not a horror," the Spanish minister told a joint press conference in response to a question by a Spanish journalist whether he would prefer a horrible end to Brexit or an eternal horror.

He added that he did not find another Brexit extension a horror because it would not be infinite, and that "Brexit will have an end."

Cerar agreed that everyone favoured a Brexit based on a deal. "Should there be a no-deal Brexit, Slovenia will be ready for it, although we don't want it, because a consensual path is the better path," he said.

Slovenia can understand the UK's desire to delay Brexit, but it is necessary to ensure a stable and efficient functioning of EU institutions in the future, Cerar said, adding that extending the Brexit deadline would be sensible unless it led to a crisis of EU institutions, thus harming the UK and the rest of the EU.

"The 27-nation bloc cannot become hostage to the United Kingdom because of their uncertainty, that is a situation in which they don't see yet how to implement Brexit in a right way," Cerar said.

Današnji obisk MZZ Španije @JosepBorrellF dodatno utrjuje prijateljske odnose med ?? in ??. Ohraniti želimo pozitiven trend krepitve gospodarske rasti in nadaljno rast turistične izmenjave. @MZZRS @SLOinESP pic.twitter.com/R8Dsl5x3l5

— dr. Miro Cerar (@MiroCerar) April 9, 2019

Cerar said he and Borrell agreed it was important for the EU to remain united, closely integrated and that EU member countries continue to cooperate well with each other.

This is why it is important to have a good turnout in the EU elections, to tell people it is important to live together and that there is a desire to prevent divisive forces from prevailing, in order to preserve peace for the future generations.

The ministers also called for strengthening further what they said was already a good bilateral relationship between their countries. Cerar said Slovenia was keen to preserve a positive trend of trade seen in 2017 and 2018, when the volume of merchandise trade reached 1.2 billion euro.

They also hailed a strengthening of tourism exchange between the two countries and the fact that Slovenia was a popular destination for Spanish Erasmus exchange students and Spain ranked as the most popular destination for Slovenian students.

Borrell thanked Slovenia for understanding over the Catalonia issue.

Asked about the trial of the imprisoned independence leaders, he said it was not a political process but a trial of the politicians who had responsibilities. "They may have a responsibility of a criminal nature, but it is up to judges to decide."

Cerar said that Slovenia was following the developments and that the procedures must be conducted in accordance with Spanish legislation and the rule of law. "It's an internal affair of the Spanish judiciary that we cannot interfere in, although we wish for a conclusion," Cerar said.

Catalonia's expectations for more independence were also one of the topics discussed as Borrell was received by President Borut Pahor.

Borrell presented the current situation in Spain before the upcoming early elections and the government's efforts for dialogue, Pahor's office said in a press release.

Other topics included the excellent and friendly bilateral relations, as well as the EU and Brexit, and the situation in the Western Balkans.

The pair shared a view that the EU should be strengthened so that it can provide for security, progress and welfare.

Pahor hopes May's EU election result will enable the European Parliament to form a strong and pro-European coalition willing to face up to future challenges.

He reiterated his view that these will be the most important elections to the European Parliament since they were first held in 1979.

Pahor also told Borrell he was in favour of an orderly Brexit to minimise negative consequences for the citizens and economies of both countries.

The pair exchanged views on the EU prospects of the Western Balkans and potential incentives for the region to continue with reforms despite a slowdown in enlargement.

Pahor reiterated his view the enlargement should be seen as a geopolitical question rather than a technical issue.

STA, 2 April 2019 - The European Commission has confirmed that traffic fines notifying Slovenians that they have breached traffic regulations in another EU country should be issued in Slovenian. A number of Slovenians received notices from Austria and Italy which were not written in their native language.

Addressing a formal notification from a Slovenian MEP Patricija Šulin (EPP/SDS), who informed the Commission of this violation of the EU regulations along with other Slovenian MEPs, the Commission stressed that using the official language of a person who committed a traffic offence was a requirement on the local, regional, and the EU's level.

This regulation was adopted in 2015 by the European directive facilitating cross-border exchange of information on road-safety related traffic offences.

Šulin said that the Commission did not explicitly state how it was overseeing the implementation of the regulation in Austria and Italy. The countries' respective legislation systems ensure notifying Slovenians on traffic offences in Slovenian in theory.

The Commission stressed that it would take appropriate measures if it turned out that the two countries have been breaching their obligations under the directive, sending traffic tickets which were not in Slovenian to Slovenian citizens.

It also urged people to file an official complaint if they received notices that were not in their native language.