Slovenia: membership application and partnership, 10 June 1996

PURPOSE: to present the regular report from the Commission on Slovenia's progress towards accession. CONTENT: In line with the timetable of Agenda 2000 and the direction given by the European Council in Cardiff, the Commission presents a report in the form of an appraisal of the progress made by this country with regard to accession. The report examines: - the relations between Slovenia and the EU, particularly in the framework of the Cooperation and Interim Agreements; - the situation in respect of the political conditions set by the European Council (democracy, rule of law, human rights, protection of minorities); - Slovenia's situation and prospects in respect of the economic conditions mentioned by the European Council (functioning market economy, capacity to cope with competitive pressures and market forces within the Union); - the question of Slovenia's capacity to adopt the obligations of membership, that is, the acquis of the Union as expressed in the Treaty, the secondary legislation and the policies of the Union. The Commission's analysis reveals that results in Slovenia are satisfactory in economic and political terms: Slovenian institutions continue to run smoothly and Slovenia can be regarded as a functioning market economy and should be able to cope with competitive pressure and market forces within the Union in the medium term, provided that planned reforms are fully implemented. Priority should now be given to reform of the parliamentary and judicial system. As regards the Community acquis, however, transposition remains uneven and administrative capacity continues to display significant failings. The national programme for adoption of the acquis is currentlybeing revised in order to place even greater emphasis on the process of linkage to Community legislation. The Commission will communicate its position on that revision to the Council during the second semester of 1999, at the time of the re-examination of the Accession Partnership.�