On 20 March 2023, the Republic of Slovenia ratified the Council of Europe Convention on Access to Official Documents, becoming the 14th State Party to the Convention. The Convention will officially enter into force for Slovenia on 1 July 2023.

Prime Minister Robert Golob took part in the volunteer tree-planting campaign Rejuvenate Forests 2023, which took place near Renče in the Goriška Karst region.

Minister of Natural Resources and Spatial Planning Uroš Brežan actively participated in the UN 2023 Water Conference, which took place in New York from 22 to 24 March 2023.

The adoption of the Scientific Research and Innovation Activities Act allows for more effective and consistent implementation of scientific research and innovation policy measures.

On the final day of the UN Water Conference, Minister Fajon participated in the roundtable entitled “Water Action Decade: Accelerating the implementation of the objectives of the Decade”. She also held a series of bilateral meetings on the sidelines of the event.

Prime Minister Dr Robert Golob attended the Euro Summit in Brussels, attended by ECB President Christine Lagarde and Eurogroup President Paschal Donohoe.

At today’s correspondence meeting, the Government agreed to the draft amendments to the proposed Act Amending the Foreigners Act. Under the Act Determining the Aid to the Economy to Mitigate the Consequences of the Energy Crisis, funds totalling almost €400 million will be allocated to the economy to mitigate the high prices of electricity, natural gas and process steam.

The University Medical Centre Maribor (UKC Maribor) hosted a presentation of a project to introduce the recycling of rapid antigen tests for COVID-19 with the support of the Norwegian Financial Mechanism. “In addition to innovation, the added value of this project is that it brings together the University of Maribor, the local medical centre and companies,” said Aleksander Jevšek, Minister of Cohesion and Regional Development.

The new issue of the News from Nuclear Slovenia is published.

State Secretary Helga Dobrin attended the 3rd Danube Security Conference in Brussels. The conference focused on strengthening police cooperation in the Danube region in the areas of illegal migration, smuggling and trafficking in human beings, protection of critical infrastructure and the consequences of the war in Ukraine.

Prime Minister Robert Golob attends the March ordinary meeting of the European Council in Brussels.

Minister of Foreign and European Affairs Tanja Fajon is attending the United Nations Water Conference in New York. This is only the second time in 45 years that a conference has been devoted exclusively to water. “Slovenia has succeeded in getting 150 countries to support its proposal for the appointment of a UN Special Envoy for Water. This is a great success for Slovenian diplomacy”, said Minister Fajon.

At today’s session, the Government set the expenditure ceiling for the rebalancing of this year’s budget, and adopted a proposal for an amendment to the Companies Act and a proposal for an amendment to the Industrial Property Act. The Government did not grant a discharge to the Management Board and Supervisory Board of 2TDK, Družba za razvoj projekta, d.o.o.

Today the Government adopted a draft amendment to the Industrial Property Act and will send it to the National Assembly for consideration under the ordinary procedure. The amendment aims to simplify and cheapen some existing procedures and further align Slovenian regulation with European and international rules.

At today's correspondence meeting, the government decided to temporarily suspend the execution of individual expenditures relating to integral items of the state budget as of 23 March 2023.

Between 14 March and 8 April, the Metro cinema, one of the most important institutions in the field of film in Vienna, is hosting a retrospective entitled SLO: MOTION, prepared by the Slovenian Cinematheque in cooperation with the Slovenian Cultural and Information Centre SKICA in Vienna, the Austrian Film Archives and the Slovenian Film Centre.

The Slovenian Nuclear Safety Administration participates in the Review Meeting of the Contracting Parties to the Convention on Nuclear Safety and signs a bilateral agreement with the USA.

On the occasion of World Water Day, Štanjel Castle played host to the Business-to-Diplomacy (B2D) event "World Water Day 2023 – Accelerating Change". Slovenian water technology companies and institutions presented themselves to the foreign diplomatic corps.

The amendment to the Fiscal Verification of Invoices Act, which is being adopted by the National Assembly today, is aimed at addressing both the control of the shadow economy and the protection of the rights of customers. In the light of protecting the environment and the green transition, we advocate e-receipts wherever possible. We emphasise that the purpose of re-introducing the fine for customers is primarily to raise awareness that the receipt must be accepted.

The Government of Slovenia took note of the report of the Slovenia Nuclear Safety Administration (SNSA) on the EPREV follow-up mission activities (Emergency Preparedness REView follow-up) of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in the field of preparedness and response for a nuclear or radiological emergency. The mission was undertaken from 3-7 October 2022. 14 response organizations have participated in the review. The EPREV follow-up mission team consisted of five experts from Canada, Belgium, Ireland, Netherland, Spain, and the IAEA.