The small and medium-sized enterprises test of regulations

All new Slovenian legislation must pass the so-called SME test, which means that every regulation and law is tested according to its impacts on small and medium-sized enterprises. If these impacts are negative, the law or regulation cannot be adopted. In this context, we cooperate closely with the business sector and chambers of commerce that represent the interests of businesses. Thus we ensure that the regulations we adopt have no negative consequences for small and medium-sized enterprises.

Social entrepreneurship

In Slovenia, special attention is devoted to cooperative enterprises, social entrepreneurship and employee buyouts. Our country has much room for improvement in this area, which is growing rapidly both in Europe and indeed in the world, but the continuing stories of success inspire us and make us feel proud.

Companies in difficulties

In spite of all the incentives and opportunities, a company might find itself in difficulties. Hence the process of granting state aid for rescuing and restructuring companies in difficulty has a very specific role within the general system of state aid in Slovenia and indeed the EU. It may, for example, be justified by social or regional political reasons, the need to take into account the strategic role of individual economic operators in the national economy, or, in an exceptional case, the desire to maintain a competitive market structure when the disappearance of companies or cooperatives could lead to a monopolistic or a harmful oligopolistic situation. Granting state aid for rescuing and restructuring companies and cooperatives in difficulty is permissible only in exceptional cases and justified only if the appropriate legal conditions are observed.

The activities carried out in the field of rescuing and restructuring companies are as follows:

• providing guidance and advice to companies and cooperatives in preparing restructuring programmes;
• producing technical background documents for the minister responsible for the economy, tourism and sport related to decisions on granting state aid for rescuing and restructuring companies;
• monitoring and supervising the implementation of restructuring projects;
• drafting reports on the aid granted;
• preparing expert analyses on the effectiveness of the aid granted;
• drafting proposals referring to the regulatory framework of the sector and its areas of action;
• carrying out and coordinating activities in communication with the European Commission. 

Workers' Profit-Sharing

Companies may regulate workers' participation in the company's profits and participation in the ownership of the company, specifying the content of the profit-sharing agreement, the procedure for concluding the agreement, the cash and share schemes, and the conditions for obtaining relief from taxes and social security contributions. In the case of employee profit-sharing, employees may be paid a maximum of 20% of the profits of any financial year, but not more than 10% of the annual gross amount of wages and salaries paid by the company in that financial year. The maximum remuneration that an employee may receive under this act may not exceed €5,000.

Commercial Law

The fundamental regulation in the field of company law in the Republic of Slovenia is the Companies Act, which lays down the basic corporate status rules for the establishment and operation of companies, sole proprietorships, related parties, economic interest groupings, branches of foreign companies and their status transformation. 

Tests for Rulemaking

All new legislation in Slovenia must pass the so-called SME test, which means that for every regulation and law, we check how it will affect small and medium-sized enterprises. If these impacts are negative, the law or regulation simply cannot be adopted. We work closely with business and the chambers representing business interests. This ensures that the rules we adopt do not have a negative impact on small and medium-sized enterprises.