The 2008 Slovenian EU Presidency: A New Synergy for Europe? (2008:2op)
Slovenia, Germany and Portugal have agreed on a common 18-month programme of the first presiding "trio". As the last presiding country within the trio, Slovenia mainly took on the fairly "traditional role" of a small country holding the EU presidency - managing "a good presidency" for the EU.
The Slovenian Presidency has, inter alia, been devoted to the ratification process of the Lisbon Treaty, the development of the European Research Area as initiated by the Ljubljana process, energy and climate change and the situation in theWestern Balkans, including the question of the independence of Kosovo as well as the actual management of Kosovo as it is in effect administered by the EU.
Slovenia is the first post-socialist Member State to hold the presidency of the European Union. As a small and relatively recently democratized country it has faced specific challenges in managing this task, such as the lack of an experienced administration and government.
The report was presented at the seminar The Slovenian Presidency and is a part of the research project The EU Presidencies.
2008:2op The 2008 Slovenian EU Presidency: A New Synergy for Europe? A Midterm Report (371.05 kB)