107th regular session of the Government of the Republic of Slovenia

SLOVENIA, June 13 - The Government set out the text of a draft law on amendments to the Act on the Arrangement of Certain Issues Arising from the Final Ruling of the Court of Arbitration under the Arbitration Agreement between the Government of the Republic of Slovenia and the Government of the Republic of Croatia. The Act on the Arrangement of Certain Issues Arising from the Final Ruling of the Court of Arbitration under the Arbitration Agreement between the Government of the Republic of Slovenia and the Government of the Republic of Croatia (ZUVRAS) was adopted with the aim to regulate the preservation of certain rights of citizens of the Republic of Slovenia and to provide for certain new rights as a consequence of the announcement of the final ruling in the arbitration between the Republic of Slovenia and the Republic of Croatia on the delimitation of the land and maritime border between the two countries. The purpose of the ZUVRAS is to implement the principle of equal treatment of the citizens of the Republic of Slovenia whose rights and obligations have been affected by the ruling, by preserving to the greatest extent possible the rights they enjoyed until the ruling was pronounced, and by introducing appropriate compensation for those rights of which they have been deprived. The ZUVRAS entered into force when the state border between the Republic of Slovenia and the Republic of Croatia was registered in the State Border Register on the basis of the ruling, i.e. on 30 December 2017. State aid is of great importance for commercial fishermen directly affected by the arbitration ruling. Due to the continued presence of foreign vessels in the seas of the Republic of Slovenia, which hinder the regular commercial fishing activities of Slovenian fishermen, they continue to suffer a loss of regular income. The proposed amendment to the ZUVRAS provides that holders of commercial fishing licences are entitled to compensation for loss of income in accordance with Section 3.6 of Part II of the Guidelines on State aid in the fisheries and aquaculture sector (OJ L C No. 107, 23/03/2023, p. 1), provided that they fulfil the conditions laid down. This is liquidity aid to help businesses in the sector to respond to circumstances threatening their viability. The proposed Act also defines legal aid for fishermen (natural or legal persons who are citizens of the Republic of Slovenia or established in the Republic of Slovenia and holders of a commercial fishing licence) and defines the competent authorities for the provision of legal aid, in accordance with the provisions of the Government Act.

The new Aviation Act is the basic law governing aviation. It is a systemic and mainly technical regulation aimed at ensuring aviation safety or the safety of air traffic. Given that aviation is a highly international activity, the regulation is maintained as also derived from international standards and recommendations of the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO). At the same time, it regulates in a horizontal manner the institutes that derive from the regulation of EU law under shared competence. The Act modifies and develops the structure in such a way as to adapt civil aviation to modern approaches in ensuring aviation safety or air traffic safety, technology, systems and procedures in civil aviation, thus allowing it to keep pace with the evolution of the international and European legal framework, which is constantly evolving in order to achieve the highest level of aviation safety.

The Government has set out the text of the proposed Act on the Provision of Air Navigation Services. The organisation and implementation of air navigation services is left to the Contracting State, in compliance with international standards and recommended practices of the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO). The organisational form of the service provider and other basic arrangements are laid down by the Republic of Slovenia in the Act on the Provision of Air Navigation Services.As a result of the adoption of the new Aviation Act, certain provisions relating to the provision of air navigation services from the Aviation Act must be transferred to the relevant sectoral law – the Act on the Provision of Air Navigation Services, as the new Aviation Act will no longer contain these provisions, as they do not fall within its scope.

The amendment to the Housing Act regulates the problems of tenants in denationalised dwellings, as a result of the Constitutional Court's decision of 15 June 2023. The Court found that certain articles of the Denationalisation Act and the Housing Act were unconstitutional because they related to the indefinite period tenancy agreements that tenants had entered into with the owners of the dwellings that had been returned to them in the denationalisation. The amendments to the Housing Act also include amendments regulating the acquisition of data necessary for the operation of municipalities, public housing funds and non-profit housing organisations. In addition, the Act amending the Housing Act introduces a new definition of the Housing Fund of the Republic of Slovenia as a public fund. New articles are also added to determine the number of members of the Fund's Management Board, the manner of their appointment and dismissal, and the powers of the Management Board. The second amendment allows the Housing Fund of the Republic of Slovenia to grant long-term loans at favourable interest rates for the acquisition of non-profit rental dwellings to local authorities, public housing funds and non-profit housing organisations.

The Government issues the Decree on setting prices for certain petroleum products and publishes it in the Official Gazette of the Republic of Slovenia.The price of unleaded 95-octane petrol and diesel is calculated on the basis of a methodology based on the evolution of the prices of petroleum products on the world market (Source: PLATT'S European Marketscan) and the evolution of the USD/EUR exchange rate. The resulting model price of mineral petroleum products is then supplemented by a bio-component surcharge in EUR/litre, which is calculated separately for mineral petrol and mineral diesel. The model prices are calculated on the basis of 14-day averages of mineral oil prices and 14-day averages of biofuel prices. This Decree sets the maximum margin for retail sales at service stations off motorways and expressways at EUR 0.0783/litre for diesel, EUR 0.0794/litre for UMG-95 and EUR 0.08/litre for KOEL.