Slovenia Weekly: Development Act to Ease the Burden on Citizens and Businesses

How can we ease the burden on citizens and businesses, encourage entrepreneurship and create a more competitive business environment? The Development Act seeks to address these questions. Voters will decide on the Act in a referendum on 6 December 2026.

The Act provides for a range of changes affecting people's everyday lives and business operations – from reduced VAT on basic foodstuffs and certain tax relief measures to more favourable conditions for entrepreneurs, the possibility of receiving a full old-age pension while continuing to work, and changes in healthcare, long-term care and housing policy. Although the National Assembly adopted the Act on 11 May 2026, it has not yet entered into force due to the referendum process. Voters will therefore decide whether it should take effect.

Reformation Day, celebrated in Slovenia on 31 October, commemorates the period when the foundations of the Slovenian literary language were laid. The central figure of the Reformation in the Slovenian lands was Primož Trubar, who published the first two printed books in Slovenian, the Catechism and the Abecedarium, in 1550. His work was continued by other reformers, including Jurij Dalmatin, who translated the Bible into Slovenian, and Adam Bohorič, who wrote the first Slovenian grammar.

This year's national celebration will take place on the eve of the holiday in Murska Sobota, where the Protestant heritage remains an important part of the region's cultural and religious identity. The celebration will be dedicated to the Slovenian language, books and Trubar's legacy, and above all to reflecting on the power of words to connect generations, preserve historical memory and shape our cultural identity.