Press Release

Government approves amendments to Prevention of Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing Act and Economic Zones Act

At today’s session, the Government of the Republic of Slovenia approved a draft Act amending the Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing Act, transposing Directive 2007/64/EC on payment services in the internal market, amending Directives 97/7/EC, 2002/65/EC, 2005/60/EC and 2006/48/EC, and repealing Directive 97/5/EC which was incorporated into Slovenian legislation as part of the Payment Services and Systems Act.

The draft act aims to align Slovenian legislation with Directive 2007/64/EC. In addition, it provides for benefits for individuals that are required to apply measures for preventing money laundering and terrorist financing – which was foreseen by Directives 2005/60/EC and 2006/70/EC, which have not been integrated into Slovenian law. Finally, the act aims to rectify certain drawbacks and inconsistencies that have emerged through the implementation of individual provisions.

The main solutions include:

• aligning definitions of liable parties  with those in Directive 2007/64/EC and the Payment Services and Systems Act;

• provisions that enable customers to waive inspection in certain cases;

• simplified customer inspection procedure in cases of multiple business relationships;

• re-introducing a mandatory statement whereby a customer processes a transaction worth €15,000 or more on its own behalf or on behalf of a third party;

• abolishing the mandatory annual re-inspection of foreign entities;

• empowering the Agency for Public Oversight of Auditing to monitor the implementation of the act in auditing companies and independent auditors;

• new provisions in Articles 13 and 25 governing the implementation of international FATF recommendations 8, 11 and 21, which are thus being transposed into the Slovenian system for preventing and detecting money laundering.

At today’s session, the Government of the Republic of Slovenia approved a draft Act amending the Economic Zones Act, which provides for further regional development and encourages employment within economic zones. The proposed amendments, which also extend the regime of tax advantages in economic zones by the end of 2013, pursue these goals and create a favourable business environment.

The act’s essential provision extends the regime of tax advantages in economic zones by the end of 2013. The measures which apply to this regime represent government assistance – a general block exemption – therefore, articles laying down these advantages are amended in accordance with the EU rules for this type of government assistance.

The draft act also provides for so-called ‘large-scale investment projects’ to be eligible for tax advantages, i.e. government assistance. Finally, the new act aligns penal provisions with the applicable provisions of Slovenian legislation regulating fines.

At today’s session, the Government of the Republic of Slovenia approved a provisional position of the Republic of Slovenia regarding the draft Protocol amending Protocol No. 36 on Transitional Provisions annexed to the Treaty on European Union (TEU), which lays down transitional measures regarding the composition of the European Parliament by the end of the 2009–2014 term; i.e. increasing the number of MEPs of twelve member states including one for Slovenia. The Government will refer the provisional position for discussion to the National Assembly.

The Government agrees with the amendments to the Protocol which stipulates that 18 additional seats for 12 member states, including one seat for Slovenia, should be created for the period starting on the date the Protocol becomes effective and ending with the 2009–2014 parliamentary term. Thus the number of MEPs will have increased from the current 736 to 754.

The drat Protocol also stipulates that member states which are granted additional seats in the European Parliament must appoint their MEPs in accordance with their national laws and on condition that the candidates have been elected in a direct general election. This means one of the following: (a) in an election with general and direct ad hoc voting; (b) based on the outcome of the European Parliament election of 4–7 July 2009; or (c), being appointed as MEP(s) by the national parliament in accordance with a procedure laid down by the member state itself.

The draft Protocol represents the implementation of decisions taken at the European Council in December 2008, when EU heads of state or government agreed that since the Lisbon Treaty would become effective only after the European Parliament election in July 2009, transitional measures must be put in place concerning the composition of the European Parliament by the end of the 2009–2014 term.

The amendments will become effective once all member states ratify them in accordance with their constitutional rules, and deposit the instrument of ratification with the Government of the Italian Republic. If all instruments are deposited in due time, the Protocol will become effective as of 1 December 2010, otherwise the effective date is the first day of the month following the month in which the last instrument of ratification was deposited.

At today’s session, the Government of the Republic of Slovenia approved an Action Plan proposed by the Interdepartmental Working Group for the Fight Against Trafficking in Persons for the period 2010–2011. The Action Plan lays down concrete activities that will be undertaken in the Republic of Slovenia with a view to effectively combating trafficking in humans. The document is a follow up to previous projects that have proved effective and entail continuity. Also, new activities have been proposed on the basis of previous experience and new know-how that build on efforts invested so far. The Working Group has also taken into consideration the recommendations and guidelines of international authorities including working bodies of the European Union.

Like previous action plans, this comprises sections on the prevention, detection, investigation, prosecution of offences related to human trafficking, assistance to victims, and support activities. Each includes a series of concrete activities, and their operators, contractors and deadlines. Five activities also include financial plans and sources of financing. Since certain tasks, particularly those relating to assistance to victims of human trafficking, will be conducted by NGOs, calls for proposals will need to be organised. The remaining activities in the Action Plan fall within the normal scope of work of individual ministries and other government agencies.

The Government discussed the signing of a Memorandum on organising a long-term French language learning programme in the Slovenian civil service.

The goal is to teach French to some 300 civil servants in three years, so that after completing the course, most would be able to negotiate in French, write the language and generally use it as a working language (at the B1 level of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages).

The programme will be conducted in Slovenia’s main government institutions: the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Public Administration, several other ministries, and in other institutions whose staff are responsible for relations with European institutions or international organisations.

The national education plan laying down the profile of learners and the programme will be proposed by a coordinator for Slovenia – appointed by the International Organisation of La Francophonie – annually, by 30 November and after consulting the French and Belgian embassies. A contract on the provision of educational services, stipulating all the necessary details, will be signed with Institut français Charles Nodier in Ljubljana.