InvestSlovenia

SLOVENIA AND THE EUROPEAN UNION

In the past decade, Slovenia laid down integration into the European Union as its priority objective, which a vast majority of its citizens supported at a referendum held on 23 March 2003.

Our country has become a member of the European Union on 1 May 2004.

With this enlargement, the European Union has expanded to 25 countries, now 27 countries.

On 1 January 2007 Slovenia joined EMU (Economic and Monetary Union) as the only new EU Member State and abandoned the tolar. The preparations for a smooth euro changeover and measures to avoid unjustified price increases are in place. For people the benefits include cheaper loans, less bureaucracy, and easier travel, while reduced exchange rate uncertainty for Slovenian businesses, lower transactions costs and less interest rate volatility are the advantages for the real sector.

On 1 January Slovenia took over from Portugal the six-month EU presidency. The priorities of Slovenia's stint at the helm of the bloc will be overseeing the ratification of the Lisbon Treaty, the Western Balkans, the Lisbon Strategy, the energy-climate package and intercultural dialogue. On 1 July, Slovenia will hand over the presidency to France. Slovenia is the first newcomer from 2004 to have assumed the presidency of the Council of the EU.