185th regular session of the Government of the Republic of Slovenia

SLOVENIA, December 17 - The Government adopted the Decree laying down more detailed rules and criteria for granting state aid to the media. The Decree is the first of its kind to provide modern financial incentives to help the media industry. The Government has issued the Decree under the Media Act to set out in more detail the conditions for granting financial support to the media in accordance with the applicable rules on state aid and de minimis aid. The Decree is also the basis for preparing public tenders and notifying the European Commission of state aid. The Decree sets out in more detail the rules described in the new Media Act, which provides for a number of measures to promote media pluralism, to facilitate the digital transition of print media and to encourage the original production of digital media, while print media will benefit from distribution subsidies in less densely populated areas and from subsidies for digital subscriptions. In addition, print and digital media will be able to subsidise journalists' jobs. The Decree also increases support for radio and TV programmes of special interest, as well as for smaller, specialised or non-profit media. The media will now receive EUR 5 million a year in state aid. The new Media Act represents the first comprehensive overhaul of the legal safeguards of the Slovenian media space in more than twenty years. The new Act addresses all the essential problems of the Slovenian media landscape (changing audience habits, lack of transparency in the media market, hidden interests of owners, etc.), and for the first time provides the basis for the development of modern forms of financial support for the media, such as have long been known in many European countries.

At today's session, the Government of the Republic of Slovenia has concluded a Contract for the provision of public service by the Slovenian Press Agency (STA) in 2026 on behalf of the founder and sole partner of the Slovenian Press Agency. Petra Bezjak Cirman, Director of the Government Communication Office, has been authorised to sign and implement the contract. The value of the annual Contract for 2026 is EUR 3,403,379.00, and relative to this year's Contract is EUR 560,000 higher, or up by 19.6%. This is the amount adopted by the STA supervisors in the 2026 business plan. The increase in funding will allow STA to invest in the modernisation of equipment and working resources, in computerisation and information security, and to align salaries with the Collective Agreement for Cultural Activities in Slovenia. It is the duty of the Government of the Republic of Slovenia, which exercises the company member’s rights on behalf of the Republic of Slovenia, to ensure the STA's institutional autonomy, editorial independence and adequate funding for the comprehensive and seamless provision of its public service, based on the STA's annual business plan, which the Government is fully implementing with the Contract concluded today.

The Government of the Republic of Slovenia set out the text of the proposed Resolution on the National Healthcare Plan in Slovenia 2026–2035 "Responsibility and collaboration for better medical treatment outcomes" and submitted it to the National Assembly for consideration. The Resolution on the National Healthcare Plan 2026–2035 (the Resolution) is a fundamental strategic document of the Republic of Slovenia, which sets out the orientations for the development of the healthcare system over the next ten years. It is based on Article 6 of the Health Care and Health Insurance Act (ZZVZZ), which lays down that the Republic of Slovenia shall plan development possibilities and needs with the healthcare programmes and health capacities. The purpose of the Resolution is to set out a long-term vision of sustainable, accessible and quality healthcare for all people, regardless of their social status, age, place of residence or other social or demographic characteristics. The document identifies five overarching objectives, which are strengthening the resilience, sustainability and stability of the healthcare system; ensuring an intergenerational supportive environment for healthy living at all ages; developing a system that is responsive to change and the development of new health technologies and digital solutions; establishing a system with a developed culture of safety, accountability and open communication, and making efforts to achieve a carbon-neutral health system. Thirteen key areas have been identified to deliver the overarching objectives; each area sets out actions to achieve them. With this resolution, Slovenia lays a solid foundation for a public health system that will meet the future needs of society while remaining committed to the principles of solidarity, universality, equity and quality.

The Government issued the Decree on limit values for environment noise indicators. The Decree comprehensively regulates the protection of the environment against noise and establishes the levels of protection against noise, the limit values for environment noise indicators, the measures to be taken to protect against noise, the assessment of noise indicators, the obtaining of an environmental permit, the content of an expert assessment of the conformity of the operation of noise sources, and the content of an assessment of the environment noise load. The changes are mainly of a clarifying and terminological nature. The term "international airport" is added to refer to airports in Maribor, Brnik and Portorož. It is also made clearer that the Decree does not apply to heliports operating in the context of hospitals, in particular in cases of medical, police and other emergencies, thus removing previous ambiguities in practice. Article 24 has been made more specific; it addresses the harmonisation of existing noise sources at five industrial plants that have long been located in the vicinity of residential areas. This is a transitional arrangement of the current situation, while the list of these plants remains unchanged and has been in force since 2010.

At today's session, the Government of the Republic of Slovenia gave its consent to the promotion of Brigadier Boštjan Močnik, now holding the work post of Major General Chief of the General Staff of the Slovenian Armed Forces, to the rank of Major General. Brigadier Boštjan Močnik fulfils the general conditions prescribed by law for promotion to the rank of Major General. He was promoted to the rank of brigadier in 2021. He also fulfils the special conditions for promotion to the rank of Major General laid down in the Decree on Ranks and Promotions in the Slovenian Army, as he has been deployed with the rank of Brigadier General on a post for which the rank of Major General is required for more than one year, namely from 8 December 2023. Once the Government has given its consent, the Minister of Defence will forward the proposal to the President of the Republic of Slovenia.