SLOVENIA: SLOVENIA SEEMS TO BE ONE OF THE BEST PREPARED CANDIDATES TO JOIN THE EUROPEAN UNION

Record ID: 645771

  • Title: SLOVENIA: SLOVENIA SEEMS TO BE ONE OF THE BEST PREPARED CANDIDATES TO JOIN THE EUROPEAN UNION
  • Date: 11th December 2002
  • Summary: SV TRADITIONAL SLOVENIAN BAND PLAYING ON STAGE IN RESTAURANT JUST OUTSIDE LJUBLJANA PAN TO PEOPLE DANCING SV PEOPLE DANCING TO SLOVENIAN MUSIC SV BAND PLAYING Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
  • Embargoed: 26th December 2002 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: BLED, LJUBLJANA AND OREHOVICA VILLAGE IN VIPAVA VALLEY, SLOVENIA
  • Country: Slovenia
  • Topics: European Union
  • Reuters ID: LVA5CDW6CPZOOYE0HSBALSP8NCSH
  • Story Text: Having successfully wrapped up talks before the crucial summit in Copenhagen on December 12-13, the small ex-Yugoslav republic of Slovenia - the second richest among 10 new European candidates - seems to be one of the best prepared to join the Union.
    Slovenia's negotiators at first complained that because of the country's relative prosperity the concessions were weighted in favour of the poorer countries, namely Poland and the Baltic states, but accepted the financial package after Denmark made an improved financial offer to the 10 candidates last week.
    "Of course, there are still issues we need to deal with, but they are minor problems and we are confident we shall solve all of them by the entry date at the beginning of 2004", Janez Potocnik, Slovenia's European affairs minister told a news conference in Ljubljana after disclosing the details of the package drawn up by current European Union (EU) president Denmark.
    The package includes a one-off lump sum payment to tide them through the first year of accession, more aid for farmers and more money for nuclear safety and border security.
    The country's agriculture minister Franci But told Reuters he was satisfied with the deal.
    "It looks like we will be the only applicant country which will be able to top up the direct payments more or less up to the level of existing payments in the EU of 15 member states.
    Then, what is especially important and positive is the fact that in the field of rural development we will get quite a lot of money", he said.
    Despite his optimism, Slovenian farmers still share some of the worries of their counterparts from other applicant countries.
    "For the moment we don't really know what is going to happen. We hope we are not going to be written off and will be able to participate in the market. But, foreigners will swamp us with cheap products and I am not sure we will be in a position to be competitive, being so small. We cannot be competitive on the market because we produce such small quantities," said Ivan Fabcic, wine maker from one of Slovenia's best known wine producing areas, the Vipava valley.
    Some 70 percent of agriculture produce in Slovenia comes from small family-owned farms.
    Farm quotas and subsidies are among the key sticking points as candidates and the EU head for tense haggling at an EU summit in Denmark.
    But, Fabcic's worries about the big changes may well prove unfounded in practice because for retailers and consumers the reunification has already happened and for a few years now the shelves in supermarkets throughout Slovenia have been full of goods from Western Europe.
    After the initial fascination with Western products and their luxurious packaging waned, many Slovenians returned to their beloved local brands and issues pertaining to national identity feature high on the domestic political agenda.
    Popular support for EU membership has never dropped bellow 50 percent, however, some Slovenes are becoming more sceptical about the issue.
    "The EU is a monetary and economic union and not a real union of people. It's all a bit like the USA, everything is based on economy and money. Really, it reminds me too much of America and I don't like that", said Samo, a 25-year old student from Ljubljana.
    Mojca, a shop keeper of the same age, disagreed and said she expected EU accession to bring economic prosperity and better ties with other European countries.
    "The borders will disappear and we will have better connections with the West and other old European countries", she said.
    The small Alpine republic - often confused with fellow EU candidate Slovakia - has a population of two million and its per capita GDP (Gross Domestic Product) of $9,500 USD per year is the highest in any of the ex-communist candidate countries.
    It has a stable democracy, free media and unemployment rate lower then Germany or France.
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