SLOVENIA: 7th regular session of the Government of the Republic of Slovenia

SLOVENIA, July 16 - Government adopts draft Act on Specialised Authorities for Dealing with Corruption-Related Criminal Offences and Organised Crime

The Government of the Republic of Slovenia adopted the text of the draft Act on Specialised Authorities for Dealing with Corruption-Related Criminal Offences and Organised Crime and submitted it to the National Assembly of the Republic of Slovenia for consideration under the urgent procedure.

The draft Act establishes a functionally integrated institutional chain comprising the

National Bureau of Investigation, the Specialised State Prosecutor’s Office for the Prosecution of Corruption and Organised Crime (StKOK) and the newly established Specialised Court of the Republic of Slovenia for adjudicating corruption and organised crime cases. The National Bureau of Investigation will always initiate or take over investigations into criminal offences falling within the remit of StKOK. The current initiative by the head of the prosecutor’s office will be replaced by a binding written request.

The number of appointed state prosecutors at StKOK will increase from at least 10 to at least 25. The head of the prosecutor’s office may have two deputies, and an internal unit for information and analytical support will be established. StKOK will also gain greater influence over the preparation of its staffing and financial plans. The Act places particular emphasis on the duty of the Commission for the Prevention of Corruption, the Office for Money Laundering Prevention, the Financial Administration, the Slovenian Competition Protection Agency, the Securities Market Agency and inspection authorities to cooperate with StKOK.

The existing four specialised departments at district courts will be replaced by a single Specialised Court of the Republic of Slovenia, based in Ljubljana and having jurisdiction over the entire country. The Court will have its own president, court administration and judicial posts dedicated exclusively to specialised criminal cases. The draft Act also strengthens transparency and institutional accountability. The Act will apply from 1 January 2027.

Source: Ministry of Justice

Government discusses preparation of revised state budget for 2026, amendments to the 2027 budget and the 2028 budget

The Government approved the starting points for the preparation of a revised state budget for 2026 and launched the process of preparing budget documents for the next two years. It also called on ministries to prepare proposals for measures that will enable the fiscal targets to be met.

The Government determined the allocation of budget expenditure among ministries and other proposers of financial plans. Total budget expenditure for 2026 has been set at EUR 18.4 billion.

Compared with the existing plans, the allocation primarily includes higher defence expenditure and additional appropriations to the budget fund for the implementation of the Recovery and Resilience Plan.

The increase in defence expenditure is intended to support Slovenia’s objective of reaching defence spending equivalent to 2% of GDP, in line with the commitments undertaken by the country. Additional resources for the Recovery and Resilience Plan budget fund are required because the implementation of the Plan is entering its final phase. When the budgets for 2026 and 2027 were prepared last year, it was envisaged that part of the expenditure for project implementation would be incurred in 2027. As implementation of the Recovery and Resilience Plan must be completed in 2026, the corresponding funds had to be secured in the 2026 budget.

The starting points for the preparation of the budget documents are based on the latest Information on the Balance of the Consolidated General Government Finance Accounts and the Current State of This Year’s Budget, which the Government took note of. The information shows that state budget liabilities have increased significantly in the recent period and that the fiscal commitment relating to the cumulative growth of net general government expenditure for 2026 has been breached. The Government therefore called on ministries to prepare, as part of the budget preparation process, proposals for measures that will enable the fiscal targets to be met.

The Government also called on ministries responsible for budget funds to analyse the effectiveness of those funds. Where the resources of such funds are not being spent on an ongoing basis, the ministries must immediately prepare amendments to the relevant legislation to enable unallocated resources to be returned to the budget. This will also contribute to reducing the state budget deficit.

The Government also took note of the draft Budget Memorandum and determined the expenditure ceilings for the preparation of amendments to the state budget for 2027 and the proposed state budget for 2028. Total budget expenditure for 2027 has likewise been set at EUR 18.4 billion, which is EUR 309 million more than in the adopted 2027 budget. Most of the increase relates to additional funding for the implementation of cohesion policy, which was under-budgeted in the adopted 2027 budget. Total budget expenditure for 2028 has been set at EUR 19.1 billion.

The Government is expected to adopt the revised budget for the current year at the end of August, while the budgets for 2027 and 2028 are to be adopted by the end of September, in accordance with the established timetable.

Source: Ministry of Finance