Andrej Šircelj

Brussels – At a meeting chaired by Slovenian Finance Minister Andrej Šircelj in Brussels on Tuesday, EU finance ministers reached political consensus to upgrade the EU rules on reduced VAT rates, updating the list of goods and services for which reduced rates or exemptions are allowed.

Ljubljana – Prime Minister Janez Janša will lead a sizeable Slovenian delegation to the COP26 climate conference in Glasgow, to be held between 31 October and 12 November. The roadmap posted on the government website estimates the cost at EUR 1.2 million, most of which is to be spent on an EU pavilion.

Brdo pri Kranju – EU finance ministers on Saturday spoke in favour of a continuation of the bloc’s current investment cycle, amidst warnings that the soundness of public finances has to be borne in mind as stimulus spending is gradually wound down.

Brussels – Finance Minister Andrej Šircelj took part on Saturday in an informal session of the EU’s Economic and Financial Affairs Council, focussing on efforts to ensure a balanced and inclusive post-pandemic recovery. He said that despite the recent improvement in the economic forecasts support should not be lifted too quickly.

Brussels – The liquidity of companies in Slovenia is good, but deteriorating. The government is working on new schemes to help businesses capable of surviving the crisis, Finance Minister Andrej Šircelj told his counterparts from other EU countries and the Eurozone in online meetings on Monday and Tuesday.

Brussels, – Finance Minister Andrej Šircelj said Slovenia was in constant touch with the European Commission in drafting its recovery plan and would meet the deadline. He said he would like to see as little red tape as possible while declining to announce when the plan will be in Brussels, saying that “this is not a competition.”

Ljubljana – Slovenian Finance Minister Andrej Šircelj expects that the first transfers from the EU’s recovery fund will be made during Portugal’s EU presidency in the first half of this year, as member states including Slovenia are rushing to ratify the legal basis and draw up national recovery plans.