Hello. Here to present the conclusions
of the 142nd government meeting is Deputy Prime Minister
Matej Arčon, who will later be joined by the State Secretary.
Thank you. Today, the government approved a new bill
regarding civil servants.
It will introduce a central, digitalized system
for open competitions.
Each year, about 100 different bodies
organize around 1000 open competitions.
The centralization introduced by the new law
will expedite the processes, and make them more efficient
and transparent because they will be concentrated in one place.
The government's goal is for competence
to be the sole criterion for public sector employment.
This is the only way to improve public administration
and make it more efficient, so that it provides
better services to our citizens.
Today, the government also approved its bill on officials.
The previous legislation was very outdated.
The field was governed by regulation dating back to 1990.
The new bill defines the rights and responsibilities of officials.
It also defines the period after the ending of a function
and allows officials to return to their previous job,
if it had been frozen, within 30 days.
Otherwise, the bill doesn't introduce any new benefits
or rights. You'll hear more about these bills later
from State Secretary Mojca Ramšak.
As for pensions,
the government is satisfied
about the 4.5-percent realignment of pensions.
The average monthly pension in Slovenia today
is almost 15% higher than it was at the beginning
of this government's term.
Last year, we carried out a record realignment
of pensions, in the amount of 8.8 percent.
This year's 4.5-percent realignment is still
one of the highest in recent years.
These aren't one-time increases used by the government
to buy votes. They are permanent increases
that retirees will see on their bank accounts
for years to come. Yesterday, we saw
one of the most glaring examples of manipulation
and exploitation of retirees, the very same people
who became low-income retirees
because of a decision by Janša's government in 2012.
The leader of the opposition is taking part in protests
and is screaming slogans at the retirees
who are victims of that decision. Our government prefers to work
and will ensure that pensions increase every year.
As for the reaction of the Slovenian Chamber of Commerce and Industry,
I'd like to quickly respond to their arguments.
The Chamber of Commerce is an important partner
of this government.
Our social dialog is continuous, in part through
the Economic and Social Council.
The dialog had been interrupted before the election
of our government, so we reinstated it.
We value the contribution of the Chamber of Commerce
but the view of a CEO or a company owner
is just one opinion. As seen by employees,
retirees, students, and parents, things are different.
The government has already passed measures designed
to reduce the burden on wages and more are to come.
We increased general rebates, adjusted additional rebates
and family caregiver rebates, and introduced rebates
for people below the age of 29.
However, we can't endanger the stability of public finances
and the basis of our social programs,
such as accessible healthcare, subsidized kindergartens,
and free schooling, including at the university level.
Businesses are also financed from the budget.
During this government's term, more than €660 million
was paid out as stimulus.
Corporations received €330 million as assistance
during the energy crisis and €140 million as flood relief.
We shouldn't forget that we're among the top five
countries in terms of making use of EU funds
in the previous package and are also among the top five
in terms of setting aside the most public funds
for investments. These measures also contribute
to economic growth and development.
Thank you. Questions from the press.
Gašper Petovar, RTV Slovenia.
I'll start out with a question about the Chamber of Commerce.
Did the government discuss the letter written by Joc Pečečnik
in the name of the Slovenian Business Club?
No.
The letter wasn't one of the topics.
I quickly skimmed through it.
What caught my attention and even surprised me
was that Mr. Pečečnik, speaking on behalf
of an association of more than 500 companies,
has such a dismissive and degrading attitude
toward the public sector and the public service system,
which he claims is among the worst in the EU.
I feel this is dismissive of all civil servants,
including civil defense, firefighters, teachers,
doctors, nurses, and so on.
I can confidently state that Slovenia
has some of the best public services in the EU
and we should we proud of that.
Just because he can't get a business permit,
he shouldn't have that attitude toward the public sector
in general. There are 190,000 of us.
At the very least, these people deserve respect.
I also noticed his claim
that there's corruption in Slovenia.
If he's aware of corruption, he's obligated to report it.
I'm not sure if he did that. He's apparently aware
of a lot of corruption, and I hope he has reported it.
Otherwise, we've recently moved up six places
on the corruption index.
Of course, we'd like to see as little corruption
as possible, and we should all strive toward that.
Did you talk about the Center for the Blind and Visually Impaired?
No. The government's position on this matter is clear,
The liquidation of the company has been halted,
it has a new CEO, and a rescue program
is being prepared. New orders are coming in.
The company will be taken care of.
We don't believe that we should alter our approach because of this company.
In the long term, if any issues were to arise,
we would rather integrate it into a larger system
of sheltered workshops.
But we are glad that we successfully solved this
and that the company will continue doing business.
My last question concerns the collection of signatures
for the referendum announced by SDS.
SDS claims that this will serve
as an indicator of support for the government.
What is your position on this statement?
How will you prepare for this referendum
and what if SDS actually succeeds in initiating it?
They are announcing a number of referendums,
so could you please specify which referendum you mean?
The one about pensions. -The pensions for artists? -Yes.
I am mainly surprised.
This is a party whose Minister of Culture
strove to enact this law in the 1970s.
The Minister of Culture at the time
advocated for recipients of a lifetime achievement award
to get a pension supplement,
which costs the budget 60,000 euros annually.
And now they are calling for a referendum
that costs 4 to 5 million euros.
I think that this is just another futile attempt,
it is irresponsible, irrational and disrespectful to our citizens
to initiate a referendum on this topic
and even say that it is a pro-government referendum.
It goes against the people who, through their life's work,
have earned this pension supplement,
which has already been covered for athletes.
So, the government does not intend to prepare for it?
No. We are currently focusing our efforts on development projects
that we have set as a priority
and we would rather not engage with this issue at all
as it is not an issue that relates to all citizens.
I hope that the referendum does not happen.
The Minister of Culture will comment on this today.
Manja Delešjava, STA. You mentioned the protest.
In the past week, two protests have taken place,
each with a different background.
How does the government assess the demands presented by both sides?
Will it issue a response?
Did the government discuss this matter today?
No, we did not discuss yesterday's protest.
I think I presented our position clearly and exhaustively.
Regarding the other protests, we do not oppose them,
everyone has the right to protest.
We have a clear coalition agreement and goals set for two terms.
We are proceeding step by step.
We have full support and a desire
to realise the key projects that we have set ourselves.
Many have stalled in implementing these reforms,
but we remain committed.
It will help us immensely to have the support of the people
who trust this government to realise the reforms
that some have maybe only promised in the past.
A question for you, Mr. Arčon,
as Secretary General of the Freedom Movement.
MP Miroslav Gregorič and MP Kaloh have initiated the establishment
of a parliamentary friendship group with Russia.
How do you comment on this?
For this matter, you should address your question
to the parliamentary group that proposed the initiative,
as they will provide an appropriate response.
No more questions? Thank you, Deputy Prime Minister. -Thank you.
We will now be joined by the State Secretary
at the Ministry of Public Administration, Mojca Ramšak Pešec,
who will present the two bills on public employees and officials
that were adopted today. Go ahead.
Thank you. Greetings. Today, the government has adopted
the bill on public employees and the bill on officials.
These are two systemic regulations that are addressing a field
that has not been amended for quite some time.
The Public Employees Act
was substantively amended significantly in 2005.
This act introduces novelties primarily aimed at ensuring
high-quality, competent personnel for government bodies,
transparent recruitment,
proper management of employees in public administration,
and new methods of personnel management.
We are also reintroducing
scholarships for public administration bodies
with the aim of ensuring the recruitment of appropriate staff
and attracting new employees.
Employment in public administration is a challenge in most EU countries
and they are trying to compete in the labour market in various ways,
as is the case in Slovenia.
One of the key innovations of this act is the introduction
of a working and recruitment method in public administration bodies,
which involves centralised recruitment
and a single entry point for employment
through an HR centre
that the Ministry of Public Administration will establish.
This is an institution that has been implemented
in several EU countries in recent years.
It ensures transparent recruitment into public administration bodies
at a single entry point.
It uses the same working method
for employment in different public administration bodies.
Each year, there are about 1,000 open recruitment procedures
for hiring officials for administrative tasks,
in around one hundred different bodies.
So, the same procedures in one hundred different bodies.
We aim to standardise these procedures
by having all open recruitment procedures
for the hiring of officials managed by the HR centre,
which, we anticipate, would announce these openings
on a specific day each week, so that those interested will know
when job opportunities in public administration are published.
The procedures will be fully digitised
in order to expedite recruitment processes,
which currently take longer
due to the need for formal procedure management
and the delivery of decisions in writing.
This first entry point, managed through the HR centre,
represents the first part of the recruitment process,
where basic requirements for filling specific positions
will be assessed, as outlined by each body.
The candidates' basic understanding
of the state and constitutional system will be assessed,
along with an evaluation of their
competency to work in public administration.
Candidates who meet these requirements will be referred
to the bodies that have announced the open recruitment procedure,
which will then carry out the selection procedure.
The act stipulates that public administration bodies
will gradually adopt this new method of recruitment
according to a specific timeline,
from 1 January to 30 June 2026.
These procedures will initially
be gradually transferred to the HR centre.
Despite the fact that these procedures
are to be centralised under the same body,
we assess that they will be expedited,
which is the purpose of the recruitment procedures,
as document delivery, supplementing, follow-ups,
and paper documentation will be eliminated.
The process will be carried out through the email address
from which a candidate submits their application.
A candidate who is assessed by the centre
in terms of their understanding of the state and constitutional system,
and their competency for working in public administration,
will have this assessment valid for two years.
In this period, if they apply again for an open recruitment procedure
for permanent employment in public administration bodies,
the assessment will be taken into account
and reassessment will be waived.
Bodies that will recruit for a fixed period, for substitutions
or shorter job tenures because of increased workload,
and for positions as supporting services,
professional technical support will administer the process unvaried
in their own offices and in a different procedure
that in general recruitment procedure under the Workers’ Statute.
Some bodies shall be left out of the procedure
if they have special recruitment procedures in their Statutes,
especially for the workplaces of the so called authorised officers
in police, in the army and in prison.
They have a special foundation for their processes
within their special procedures.
In the procedures they usually test special psychophysical abilities.
The other important instrument of the new HR centre,
which won't be an independent body,
but a part of the Ministry of Public Administration,
is developing various modern methods for resource management.
The resource management in public administration should be intensified,
modern methods should be introduced.
One of them is a scholarship,
which was in use years ago, but was later abandoned.
Other modern methods of the resource management will be introduced,
for example systematic education
in terms of training the skills, required for work
that will be established within annual development discussions
and other methods. This HR centre shall
on the basis of agreement with individual bodies administer aid
with their employment and other staffing procedures
and will aid other bodies with technical assistance.
This is one of the key novelties and for the first time
in the history of Slovenian public administration
centralised and transparent procedures are introduced
and common entry points for recruitment within civil service.
We are convinced that this will bring greater transparency
in recruitment and maybe we will rebut various complaints
that arose in the past in terms of
insufficient transparency and objectivity in recruitment.
Considering the praxis of implementing the Law from 2005,
this Law is introducing updates and improvements of other institutes,
but the most important are
changes in selection and recruitment processes.
And on the other hand legal basis for introducing various methods
and instruments for personnel development.
This Law will be followed by a special strategy
for human resources management in public administration
that will be adopted by the government
and where individual institutes and instruments will be explained,
which will be introduced for human resources management.
They will be coordinated and guided
by the Ministry of Public Administration.
Thank you for a comprehensive report. Are there any questions?
I would like to know if the establishing of this centre
requires additional staff and funds?
Will you reassign employees from existing departments
or bodies there? And considering...
Part of the recruitment will stay under the jurisdiction of the bodies.
Will you reassign the employees or recruit new staff?
We don't anticipate new recruitments for the HR centre.
Some employees from the Ministry of Public Administration
and other bodies were already working on recruitment procedures.
A few individuals have during coordination shown some interest
for working in this centre.
In the long term period we could recruit new personnel
that is lacking in public administration.
Various psychologists and HRM professionals.
As far as financial consequences of this new institute are concerned,
the finance went mainly for preparing
and acquiring a special information system for these procedures.
These funds were allocated within the recovery and resilience plan.
This information system will actually computerise the system.
From submitting the application to connection with the registers,
checking the requirements.
The whole procedure of testing the basic knowledge and competences
will be also computerised,
as well as serving the candidates and informing of the activities.
The decision itself,
whether the candidate passed the assessment or not,
will be served via e-mail from which the candidate sent the application.
The funds were allocated for the purchase of the information system,
while the funds for personnel, except for gradual recruitment
of psychologists or HMR professionals,
if there isn't enough of them in the public administration,
but it will be done in phases.
In the first phase, the HR centre will recruit
public employees who will carry out official administrative tasks
within the competence of each body for indefinite term.
These hirings were already in the form of an open competition,
while the fixed-term contracts, for shorter periods of time,
for support services,
did not fall under the Public Employees Act,
but under the Employment Relationships Act,
the same as everywhere else in Slovenia.
The competence of the HR centre may gradually expand,
it may expand to other employments,
but its priority is the recruitment of permanent public employees.
The Public Employees Act proposal
mentions a reform of the civil service career system.
How will this be regulated now?
Will there be any significant changes, for example in the titles?
What can we expect?
The overhaul of the career system
is primarily linked to development of human resources management.
In addition to the core competences for work in the civil service,
the competency model, introduced in the civil service in 2019,
also includes a model for assessing job-specific competences,
managerial competences, competences linked to the content of the tasks.
The assessment of these competences
is part of the development interviews.
Managers conduct a development interview
with public employees at least once every year.
During this development interview they identify any interests,
skills, abilities for other work the individual would like to do,
or, through discussion and assessment,
through the information system
that guides this development interview,
they can assess any skills gaps for the current job,
and then prepare a specific training and education programme.
Which means that the development interview,
where the competence and ability to perform specific tasks is determined,
will then also be the basis for the preparation
of the training programme,
and thus also make it more predictable,
possible to design the programmes
and the scope of the programmes at the Administrative Academy.
So that the training and education programme,
through the assessment of competences,
not only general, but specific for the performance of particular tasks,
would link the training programmes and needs more closely
with the actual identified needs for the acquisition or upgrading
of the specific competences of the public employees in their jobs.
A question about the Public Officials Act.
Are there any significant changes
in the rights and obligations of the officials?
The Public Officials Act means adopting a new act
in relation to the current act, which was adopted in 1990.
The main drawback of the current regulation of officials was
that it was extremely outdated
and extremely difficult to apply in practice.
This led to a lot of authorities
regulating the rights and obligations of their officials
in their own legislation, and it became very opaque.
The main purpose of the new act is to update the act
and to unify the rights and obligations
during and after their term in a single regulation.
The act doesn't introduce any significant new rights
either during the term or after the end of the term.
There are certain improvements, such as the fact
that after the end of their term, public officials have
the possibility to return to their previous employer within 30 days.
If they cannot return to their previous employer,
they are entitled to compensation,
but they also get compensation for up to 30 days,
while they arrange their return to the previous employer.
Now the compensation meant they couldn't return.
There are some improvements.
The new act defines more concretely the authority
that decides on the rights of officials both during the term
and after the end of the term, which wasn't clearly regulated.
It regulates reimbursement of expenses
and other remuneration of officials,
which was only temporarily regulated
and linked to the public employees regulation.
This regulation was transferred to collective agreements,
which cannot apply to public officials,
so some temporary solution was first in the Fiscal Balance Act,
then in the wage act, where it doesn't belong.
Now it will be part of the systemic regulation for officials.
It regulates annual leave for officials,
which doesn't mean new rights or an increase for officials,
it is just transferred from the current regulation,
where it was the same as for public employees,
which is again regulated by collective agreements,
and not by an act.
The new act introduces the inspection of all these rights
during and after the end of the term of office.
The remuneration is mainly inspected by the Public Sector Inspectorate,
while the rights after the end of the term of office
are inspected by the Budgetary Inspection.
It introduces something that already applies to public employees.
It provides for legal aid to an official who,
as a result of their office, is the subject of compensation proceedings.
Public employees are already provided with legal aid
in the event that, as a result of their work as a public employee,
they are the subject of various criminal or compensation proceedings.
For officials, legal aid is provided only for compensation proceedings,
because criminal proceedings go through certain assessments
of the validity of conducting various proceedings.
Public servants and officials are in a different position
as far as their duties and decisions are concerned.
This regulation is not exactly the same.
Whereas public employees are provided with free legal aid,
officials are merely provided with some reimbursement of the costs,
which are then returned to the budget of the state or the municipality.
By the official
who has been found to be liable for damages,
or the costs of the proceedings that are imposed on the opposing party
in the event of an unsuccessful proceeding
are also returned to the budget.
Because we wouldn't want this part of the new right to legal aid
to be perceived by the public as a kind of bonus
that the lawmakers and the officials have given to themselves,
the provision of legal aid to officials who,
as a result of the performance of their duties,
find themselves in compensation proceedings,
will come into effect with the new mandates of elected officials,
or all officials of the executive branch of government.
This right will not be exercised during this mandate.
Is that all? No more questions?
This concludes the press conference, thank you and have a good day.