Presidency of the Council of the EU places on Slovenia a huge responsibility and an outstanding opportunity. This is an extremely demanding national project in terms of content, organisation and allocation of funds. At the same time it is also a symbol of recognition for Slovenia, which will be the first among the new member states to hold the presidency, and of its successful integration in the functioning of the European Union.

During our presidency, Slovenia will, together with other EU institutions, negotiate with the biggest and most powerful countries and international organisations and institutions in the world. We will organise four summits. The biggest event during our presidency will be the EU-LAC summit, which will take place in Lima, Peru on 17 May. Beside the EU-United States summit, which will take place in Slovenia, the EU-Japan and the EU-Russian Federation summits will also take place. In addition to that, Slovenia will organise UNCTAD XII, which will take place in Accra, Ghana, and host 12 informal ministerial meetings and more than 134 meetings below ministerial level in the country.

The priorities of the Slovenian presidency were to a large extent determined in the three-presidency 18-month programme of the German, Portuguese and Slovenian presidencies. As the priorities of each presidency depend largely on the progress achieved by the previous presidencies in individual dossiers, allow me to point out four main priorities of the six-monthly presidency programme, which was adopted by the Slovenian parliament a few days ago. So far, the future of the EU (ratification process and implementation), the Lisbon Strategy, the Western Balkans, as well as Energy and Climate Change and Intercultural dialogue will be at the top of our agenda.