COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT The EU Environmental Implementation Review 2019 Country Report - SLOVENIA Accompanying the document Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions The EU Environmental Implementation Review 2019: A Europe that protects its citizens and enhances their quality of life
Date: 2019-07-31
Institutions: Directorate-General for Environment, European Commission
Subjects: EU environmental policy, Slovenia, application of EU law, climate change policy, environmental law, environmental protection, governance, green economy, public health, quality of the environment

EN 

  EN 

   EUROPEAN COMMISSION  Brussels, 31.7.2019  SWD(2019) 131 final/2  CORRIGENDUM This document corrects document SWD(2019) 131 final of 04.04.2019 Footnotes 58 and 77 modified The text shall read as follows: COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT The EU Environmental Implementation Review 2019       Country Report - SLOVENIA               Accompanying the document Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions The EU Environmental Implementation Review 2019:  A Europe that protects its citizens and enhances their quality of life   {COM(2019) 149 final} - {SWD(2019) 111 final} - {SWD(2019) 112 final} - {SWD(2019) 113 final} - {SWD(2019) 114 final} - {SWD(2019) 115 final} - {SWD(2019) 116 final} - {SWD(2019) 117 final} - {SWD(2019) 118 final} - {SWD(2019) 119 final} - {SWD(2019) 120 final} - {SWD(2019) 121 final} - {SWD(2019) 122 final} - {SWD(2019) 123 final} - {SWD(2019) 124 final} - {SWD(2019) 125 final} - {SWD(2019) 126 final} - {SWD(2019) 127 final} - {SWD(2019) 128 final} - {SWD(2019) 129 final} - {SWD(2019) 130 final} - {SWD(2019) 132 final} - {SWD(2019) 133 final} - {SWD(2019) 134 final} - {SWD(2019) 135 final} - {SWD(2019) 136 final} - {SWD(2019) 137 final} - {SWD(2019) 138 final} - {SWD(2019) 139 final}  
 
 
This  report  has  been  written  by  the  staff  of  the  Directorate-General  for  Environment,  European  Commission. 
Comments are welcome, please send them to ENV-EIR@ec.europa.eu 

More information on the European Union is available at http://europa.eu. 

Photographs: p. 4 — ©iStock/Remedios; p. 11 — ©gettyimages/DaLiu; p. 22 — ©iStock/TomasSereda; p. 23 
— ©iStock/xbrchx; p. 26 — ©iStock/Tadej Pibernik 

For reproduction or use of these photos, permission must be sought directly from the copyright holder. 

©European Union, 2019 

Reproduction is authorised provided the source is acknowledged. 

1 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Table of Contents 

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ................................................................................................................................... 3 

PART I: THEMATIC AREAS .............................................................................................................................. 4 

1. 

TURNING  THE  EU  INTO  A  CIRCULAR,  RESOURCE-EFFICIENT,  GREEN  AND  COMPETITIVE  LOW-
CARBON ECONOMY .............................................................................................................................. 4 

Measures towards a circular economy ................................................................................................. 4 
Waste management .............................................................................................................................. 7 
Climate change ...................................................................................................................................... 8 

2. 

PROTECTING, CONSERVING AND ENHANCING NATURAL CAPITAL .................................................. 11 

Nature and biodiversity ....................................................................................................................... 11 
Maintaining and restoring ecosystems and their services .................................................................. 12 
Estimating natural capital ................................................................................................................... 13 
Invasive alien species .......................................................................................................................... 14 
Soil protection ..................................................................................................................................... 14 
Marine protection ............................................................................................................................... 15 

3. 

ENSURING CITIZENS’ HEALTH AND QUALITY OF LIFE ........................................................................ 16 

Air quality ............................................................................................................................................ 16 
Industrial emissions ............................................................................................................................. 17 
 ................................................................................................................................................. 18 
Noise 
Water quality and management ......................................................................................................... 18 
Chemicals ............................................................................................................................................ 20 
Making cities more sustainable ........................................................................................................... 21 

PART II: ENABLING FRAMEWORK: IMPLEMENTATION TOOLS ................................................................... 24 

4. 

GREEN  TAXATION,  GREEN  PUBLIC  PROCUREMENT,  ENVIRONMENTAL  FUNDING  AND 
INVESTMENTS ..................................................................................................................................... 24 

Green taxation and environmentally harmful subsidies ..................................................................... 24 
Green public procurement .................................................................................................................. 24 
Environmental funding and investments ............................................................................................ 25 

5. 

STRENGTHENING ENVIRONMENTAL GOVERNANCE ......................................................................... 29 

Information, public participation and access to justice ...................................................................... 29 
Compliance assurance ......................................................................................................................... 31 
Effectiveness of environmental administrations................................................................................. 32 
International agreements ................................................................................................................... 33 
Sustainable development and the implementation of the UN SDGs .................................................. 34 

2 

 
 
 
 
Environmental Implementation Review 2019: Slovenia 

Executive summary 

Slovenia and the Environmental Implementation Review 
(EIR) 

In  the  2017  EIR,  the  main  challenges  identified  for 
Slovenia  for  the  implementation  of  EU  environmental 
policy and law were: 

 

 

 

to streamline the legal planning and environmental 
assessments  framework 
in  compliance  with  EU 
legislation; 
to  preserve  Slovenia’s  extensive  Natura  2000 
network by integrating nature considerations in the 
planning and environmental assessment system; and 
to  prioritise  wastewater 
that 
Slovenia can fulfil its Accession Treaty obligations. 

investments  so 

particular  efforts to comply  with the Urban  Wastewater 
Treatment  Directive.  It  needs  to  adopt  a  realistic  action 
plan to prioritise wastewater investments,  complete the 
delineation of agglomerations (i.e. population centres or 
places  of  economic  activity)  and  ensure  an  adequate 
budget for staff and other resources. 

A  2013-2018  noise  action  plan  —  which  has  generated 
considerable  public  interest  —  has  also  been  adopted, 
albeit with some delay. 

The  2019  EIR  shows  that  Slovenia  has  strengthened  its 
economic  instruments  to  increase  the  budget  available 
for residual waste treatment. 

Examples of good practice 

  As 

the 

circular  economy  has 

increased 
in 
importance,  Slovenia  has  put 
in  place  a  solid 
framework, in the form of the ‘roadmap towards the 
circular  economy  in  Slovenia’.  Local  and  regional 
authorities  have  contributed  significantly  to  the 
policy.  Several  of  Slovenia’s  good  practices  are 
shown  on 
circular  economy 
stakeholder  platform’s  website.  Examples  include 
Ljubljana’s  project  turning  invasive  plants  into  a 
recycled  paper;  or  the  Econyl  project  collecting  and 
reprocessing  used  nylons,  mainly  from  the  fishing 
industry,  into  an  innovative  ecological  material  – 
‘econyl’. 

the  European 

 

 

 

Slovenia  can  be  a  role  model  on 
improving  a 
separate collection and increasing recycling rates in 
a  relatively  short  time,  putting  in  place  different 
tools 
in  Ljubljana, 
awareness  raising  campaigns  for  citizens,  landfill 
tax).  

(e.g.  a  separate  collection 

Slovenia is one of the few Member States that makes 
green  public  procurement 
(GPP)  mandatory. 
However,  despite  an  increase  in  GPP  from  8 %  to 
17 % of the total value of tenders between 2013 and 
2015 there is further potential to grow. 

The  tax  regime  creates  favourable  conditions  to 
protect  the  environment  as  Slovenia  boasts  one  of 
the highest shares of environmental tax revenues in 
Gross Domestic Product (GDP) across the EU. 

legislation. 

In  its  EIR  national  dialogue  in  January  2018,  Slovenia 
focused  on 
its  environmental  protection  action 
programme,  on  air  quality  and  on  its  revised  spatial 
in 
planning 
environmental policy participated in the event. Following 
the  EIR  national  dialogue,  a  bilateral  dialogue  between 
Slovenia  and  the  Commission  on  the  action  plan  for 
nature,  people  and  the  economy  took  place  in  March 
2018. 

Stakeholders 

interested 

In 2017, the Commission launched the TAIEX-EIR Peer to 
Peer  (EIR  P2P)  tool  to  facilitate  peer  learning  between 
experts  from  national  environmental  authorities.  A 
Slovenian  expert  participated  in  a  P2P  workshop  in 
Budapest.  Slovenian  experts  also  participated 
in  a 
reciprocal study visit on waste management in the Evora 
region in Portugal and in Ljubljana. A P2P expert mission 
on  noise  protection  is  also  planned  in  cooperation  with 
Austrian experts in March 2019. 

Progress on meeting challenges since the 2017 EIR 

Slovenia has passed new spatial planning legislation (the 
Spatial Planning Act and the Construction Act) to become 
fully  compliant  with  EU 
law  on  environmental 
assessment and access to justice. 

On  nature  conservation,  Slovenia  has  made  good 
progress in mapping and assessing its ecosystem services. 
However,  more  work 
is  needed  to  safeguard  the 
country’s  rich  natural  heritage.  In  this  area,  there  are 
shortcomings 
in  managing  Natura  2000  sites  and 
ensuring compliance with the nature directives.  

The  2019  EIR  shows  that  Slovenia  needs  to  make 

3 

 
 
 
Environmental Implementation Review 2019: Slovenia 

Part I: Thematic areas 

1. Turning the EU into a circular, resource-efficient, green and 

competitive low-carbon economy 

Measures towards a circular economy 

The  Circular  Economy  Action  Plan  emphasises  the  need 
to  move  towards  a  life-cycle-driven  ‘circular’  economy, 
reusing  resources  as  much  as  possible  and  bringing 
residual  waste  close  to  zero.  This  can  be  facilitated  by 
developing  and  providing  access  to  innovative  financial 
instruments and funding for eco-innovation. 

Following  the  adoption  of  the  Circular  Economy  Action 
Plan in 2015 and the setting up of a related stakeholder 
platform  in  2017,  the  European  Commission  adopted  a 
new  package  of  deliverables  in  January  20181.  This 
included  additional  initiatives  such  as:  (i)  an  EU  strategy 
for plastics; (ii) a Communication on how to address the 
interplay  between  chemical,  product  and  waste 
legislation; (iii) a report on critical raw materials; and (iv) 
a  framework  to  monitor  progress  towards  a  circular 
economy2. 
The  circular  economy  monitoring  framework3  tracks  key 
trends  and  patterns  to  understand  how  the  various 
elements  of  the  circular  economy  are  developing  and 
whether  sufficient  action  has  been  taken.  Among  other 
key indicators, the circular (secondary) use of material in 
Slovenia  was  8.5 %  in  2016  (EU-28  average  11.7 %)  —  a 
decrease  compared  with  previous  years.  On  the  other 
hand, Slovenia performs above the EU-28 average on the 
number  of  people  employed  in  the  circular  economy 
(2.09 %  of  total  employment  in  2016  vs  the  EU-28 
average of 1.73 %). 
In  the  2017  Eurobarometer4  on  attitudes  of  EU  citizens 
towards the environment, 92 % of Slovenian people said 
they  were  concerned  about  the  effects  of  plastic 
products on the environment (EU-28 average 87 %). 93 % 
said  they  were  worried  about  the  impact  of  chemicals 
(EU-28 average 90 %). Thus, Slovenian society appears to 
strongly  support  circular  economy 
initiatives  and 
environmental protection measures. 

The  2018  ‘roadmap  towards  the  circular  economy  in 
Slovenia’ sets the path for Slovenia to become one of the 

region’s  leaders  in  the  circular  economy.  The  roadmap 
identifies four priority sectors, gives recommendations to 
the  government  and 
identifies  best  practices.  The 
roadmap  introduces  the  ‘circular  triangle’  model  which 
unites  three  inseparable  elements:  (i)  circular  economy 
(business  models);  (ii)  circular  change  (government 
policies); and (iii) circular culture (citizens). The roadmap 
aims 
identifying  and 
stakeholders 
connecting practices that are compatible with the circular 
economy  and  in  producing  recommendations  for  the 
government to help the transition. 

involve 

to 

in 

jobs  and  promote  Slovenian  knowledge. 

As  part  of  its  circular  economy  agenda,  Slovenia  also 
adopted its framework programme for the transition to a 
green economy5 in October 2015. This sets out  strategic 
guidelines  on  how  to  develop  new  green  technologies, 
It 
create 
includes  measures  in  nine  areas:  sustainable  resource 
management;  green  growth;  green  jobs;  green  products 
and  services;  green  tax  reform;  sustainable  urban 
development;  green  public  sector;  green  economy;  and 
green practices in agriculture. 

Resource productivity (how efficiently the economy uses 
material  resources  to  produce  wealth)6  has  improved 
overall in Slovenia in the last 10 years. However, it is still 
below the EU average, especially compared with the EU-
15. In 2017, it reached 1.43 EUR/kg compared to the EU 
average of 2.04 EUR/kg (see Figure 1). 

1 European Commission, 2018 Circular Economy Package. 
2 COM(2018) 029. 
3 European Commission, 2018 Circular Economy Package. 
4 European Commission, Indicators for the Circular Economy Monitoring 
Framework, 2018. 

5 Slovenian Government, Framework Programme for the Transition to a 
Green Economy, 2015. 
6 Resource productivity is defined as the ratio between gross domestic 
product (GDP) and domestic material consumption (DMC). 

4 

 
                                                                 
 
                                                                 
Environmental Implementation Review 2019: Slovenia 

Figure 1: Resource productivity 2010-20177 

in  2013-2015. 

The  proportion  of  SMEs  benefiting  from  public  support 
measures for their resource-efficiency measures and the 
proportion of those that have taken such measures both 
fell 
In  addition,  the  percentage  of 
companies  that  offer  green  products  is  close  to  the  EU 
average and the percentage  that generate  most  of their 
revenue form such products is much higher than the EU 
average. 
Figure 2: Environmental performance of SMEs12 

As part of its ‘smart specialisation strategy’8, Slovenia has 
a  well-developed  plan  to  make  the  best  possible  use  of 
Investment  Funds  to 
the  European  Structural  and 
accelerate the transition to a circular economy. 

In  December  2016,  the  Republic  of  Slovenia  became  a 
‘government  and cities’ member of the Ellen MacArthur 
Foundation’s international Circular Economy 100 (CE100) 
programme which  seeks to form a network of economic 
partners 
take  circular  economy-related 
measures  to  preserve  natural  resources  and  that  will 
exchange best practices and encourage innovation9. 

that  will 

Slovenia’s  transition  towards  a  circular  economy  is  also 
thanks  to  a  significant  contribution  from 
local  and 
regional authorities. For example, Ljubljana was awarded 
the  title  of  European  Green  City  2016,  for  being  the 
European  capital  with  the  highest  share  of  separated 
waste collected (63%)10 and the first  capital in the EU in 
the ‘zero waste’ programme which is inspired by circular 
economy principles. In addition, in the city of Maribor, a 
number  of  committed  stakeholders  have  developed 
umbrella  projects  to  make  the  transition  towards  a 
circular economy model11. 

Slovenia  also  hosted  the  ‘circular  change’  conference  in 
May 2017 and identified the circular economy as a major 
opportunity for the country. 

2019 priority action 

 

Continue  efforts  to  speed  up  the  uptake  of  the 
circular economy by all economic sectors. 

SMEs and resource efficiency 

Slovenian SMEs are broadly in line with the EU average in 
the  environmental  aspects  of  the  Small  Business  Act12. 

The  latest  Eurobarometer  on  ‘SMEs,  resource  efficiency 
and green markets’13 asked companies about both recent 
resource-efficiency actions they had taken and additional 
resource-efficiency  actions  they  planned  to  take  in  the 
next  2  years.  The  Eurobarometer  then  compared  these 
responses with responses given to the same questions in 
2015.  22 %  of  Slovenian  companies  have  taken  no 
resource  efficiency  measures  (EU-28  average  11 %)  and 
62 % (+29 %)  say they do not intend to take any further 
measures.  This  is  completely  in  contrast  to  the  EU-28 
average.  

Saving  materials  and  minimising  waste  have  both 
increased in recent years — 52 % (+7 %) and 51 % (+11 %) 
of  companies  have  taken  measures  in  these  respective 

7 Eurostat, Resource productivity. 
8 Slovenian Government, Slovenia’s Smart Specialisation Strategy, 2015. 
9 Ellen MacArthur Foundation, ‘Slovenia joins the Circular Economy 100 
programme’, December 2016. 
10 GreenLjiubliana website. 
11 Wcycle project, official presentation. 

12 European Commission, 2018 SBA fact sheet - Slovenia, p.18. 
13 Flash Eurobarometer 456 ‘SME, resource efficiency and green 
markets’ January 2018. The 8 dimensions were Save energy; Minimise 
waste; Save materials; Save Water; Recycle by reusing material 
internally; Design products easier to maintain, repair or reuse; Use 
renewable energy; Sell scrap materials to another company. 

5 

 
                                                                 
 
                                                                 
Environmental Implementation Review 2019: Slovenia 

areas in the 2 years preceding the survey. However, even 
in these two areas only 10 % of respondents say that they 
intend to invest further. 

At  18 %  (+7 %),  the  proportion  of  Slovenian  companies 
that rely on external support  in their efforts to be more 
resource efficient is close to the EU average of 22 % (EU 
range  3 %-38 %).  For  advice,  26 %  (+9 %)  of  companies 
rely  on  private  sector  consultancy,  21 %  on  business 
associations  and  only  7 %  on  public  sector  advice.  For 
financing,  27 %  of  those  collaborating  with  external 
partners  make  use  of  public  grants  and  loans  and  only 
11 % make use of private sector banks and funds. 

SMEs  are  increasingly  interested  in  getting  help  to 
cooperate  better  in  networks.  Considering  Slovenia’s 
small consultancy market, networking among public and 
private actors in the field of resource efficiency could be 
a first step towards increasing interest in the topic14. 

Eco-innovation 

Slovenia  ranked  12th  on  the  2018  European  Innovation 
Scoreboard, with a 1.4 % increase since 201015. However, 
with  a  total  score  of  117  in  the  overall  Eco-innovation 
Scoreboard  2017,  Slovenia  ranked  6th  in  the  EU  (see 
Figure 3). 
Figure 3: 2017 Eco-innovation index (EU=100)16 

Figure 4: Slovenia’s eco-innovation performance17 

Although  Slovenia  has  no  specific  eco-innovation  policy, 
it  has  taken  some  positive  regulatory  and  political  steps 
in  the  last  2  years.  The  government  has  put  in  place  a 
clear policy for a greener and more circular economy (see 
the circular economy section). 

(SRIPs). 

The state plays a key role in eco-innovation by promoting 
long-term collaboration in form of research & innovation 
partnerships 
interested 
stakeholders  in  all  relevant  areas  of  Slovenia’s  ‘smart 
specialisation’  strategy.  More  than  400  companies  and 
100 knowledge institutions currently participate in  SRIPs 
with more expected to join. 

involve 

These 

The business sector is an increasingly important driver for 
eco-innovation, as government budget appropriations for 
research  and  development  (R&D)  continue  to  decrease. 
EU funding is also an important encouragement for R&D. 
The  Green  Public  Procurement  is  also  a  valuable  tool  in 
this respect and the adoption of a new decree on green 
public  procurement  (January  2018)  is  a  step  in  a  right 
direction18.  

Other  major  barriers  to  eco-innovation  are  the  lack  of a 
green  budget  reform19,  the  insufficient  inter-ministerial 
coordination, limited access to funding, and an inefficient 
transfer  of  knowledge  from  higher  education  to  the 
private sector20.  

Slovenia  has  only  11  out  of  the  EU’s  3  814  Eco-
Management  and  Audit  Scheme  (EMAS)  registered 
organisations  and  17  sites  out  of  13  205  registered 
sites21. Regarding EU Ecolabel products, Slovenia has only 

Slovenia has made significant progress in eco-innovation 
since 2014 (see Figure 4). 

14 Adding up the individual indications for finance (public + private + 
friends) and advice (public + private consultancy + business 
associations) and ‘other’, the sum is 109 for the Slovenian SMEs; 185 for 
Austrian SME; 172 for the EU-28. 
15 European Commission, European innovation Scoreboard 2018, p. 15. 
16 European Commission, Eco Innovation Observatory: Eco-Innovation 
Scoreboard 2017. 

17 European Commission, Eco Innovation Observatory: Eco-Innovation 
Scoreboard 2017. 
18 European Commission, Eco-Innovation Observatory, Country profile 
2016-2017: Slovenia. 
19 The green budget reform can be understood as “a transformation of 
Europe’s budgets and tax systems to ensure that Europe in the 21st 
century is environmentally, economically and socially sustainable.”, 
based on the definition of the aim of the Green Budget Europe.  
20 European Commission, Eco-Innovation Observatory, Country profile 
2016-2017: Slovenia. 
21 European Commission, Eco-Management and Audit Scheme, 
September 2018. 

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Environmental Implementation Review 2019: Slovenia 

Slovenia  produces  an  average  of  471  kg  of  municipal 
waste per person, per year. However, according to 2017 
studies29  the  performance  on  waste  generation  varies 
widely  between  municipalities.  Contributing 
factors 
include:  (i)  the  lifestyle  and  awareness  of  residents;  (ii) 
the  municipality’s  capacity  for  waste  disposal;  and  (iii) 
the willingness of municipalities to find new solutions. 

Figure  5  shows  an 
in  material  recycling, 
increase 
composting  and  incineration  rates  and  a  sharp  decrease 
in landfilling. 

Figure  5:  Municipal  waste  by  treatment  in  Slovenia 
2010-201730 

30  licences22  covering  72  products  compared  to  the  EU 
2 167 licences covering 72 227 products23.  

Waste management 

Turning waste into a resource is supported by: 
(i)  fully 
legislation,  which 
implementing  EU  waste 
includes  the  waste  hierarchy,  the  need  to  ensure 
landfill  diversion 
separate  collection  of  waste,  the 
targets, etc.; 
(ii) reducing waste generation and waste generation per 
capita in absolute terms; and  
(iii)  limiting  energy  recovery  to  non-recyclable  materials 
and  phasing  out  landfilling  of  recyclable  or  recoverable 
waste. 

This  section  focuses  on  management  of  municipal 
waste24  for  which  EU  law  sets  mandatory  recycling 
targets25. 

Slovenia  has  made  good  progress  on  municipal  waste 
management  in  the  past  years.  In  2017,  its  municipal 
waste recycling rates were well above the EU-28 average 
(58 %  vs  46 %)  and  have  increased  considerably  since 
2010  (see  Figure  5)26.  However,  regarding  the  quality  of 
the  data,  Slovenia  reported  a  significant  gap  between 
data  on  waste  generated  and  data  on  waste  treated27. 
For the latest reported data, the gap is still considerable 
at 21 %. The wide variation in the last years (see Figure 5) 
was  due  to  incomplete  coverage  of  outputs  from  pre-
treatment of waste28. 

Despite  the  uncertainty  of  the  data,  Slovenia  can  still 
serve  as  a  good  example  of  how  to  improve  waste 
management  in  a  short  time  and  which  tools  (e.g.  a 
separate  collection 
in  Ljubljana,  awareness  raising 
campaigns for citizens, landfill tax) work best to increase 
separate collection and recycling rates. 

The country’s success is mainly due its efforts to change 
waste  management  policy,  moving  from  a  nearly  all-
landfilling  (the  landfilling  rate  was  65 %  in  2007)  to  a 
predominantly  recycling  society.  In  2017,  the  landfilling 
rate  was  10 %  and  the  incineration  rate  was  11 %  —an 
important increase since 2014. 

22 The licences were awarded in the following product group categories: 
holiday accommodation (17), paper products (6), cleaning up (5), DIY (1) 
and personal care (1). 
23 European Commission, Ecolabel Facts and Figures, September 2018. 
24 Municipal waste consists of mixed waste and separately collected 
waste from households and from other sources, where such waste is 
similar in nature and composition to waste from households. This is 
without prejudice to the allocation of responsibilities for waste 
management between public and private sectors. 
25 See Article 11.2 of Directive 2008/98/EC. This Directive was amended 
in 2018 by Directive (EU) 2018/851, and more ambitious recycling 
targets were introduced for the period up to 2035. 
26 All the rates in this report are calculated based on the generation of 
municipal waste in the given year. 
27 Furthermore, Slovenia currently measures recycling performance 
based on the quantity of collected wastes, thus possibly overstating the 
amount of actual materials recycled, due to significant losses before 
recycling. More accurate recycling rates will be available once data on 
quantities sent for final recycling are reported. 
28 The issue has been spotted by the Slovenian Court of Auditors which 
suggested that the data is not reliable due to inaccurate records being 
kept by the ministries. Additional issues spotted is the potential 
existence of free riders in the EPR system for packaging. 

in  Figure  6,  Slovenia’s  municipal  waste 
As  shown 
recycling  rate  is  growing  faster  than  the  EU-28  average. 
With a 58 % recycling rate for 2017, Slovenia has already 
exceeded  the  2020  municipal  waste  recycling  target  of 
50 %31  and  is  now  focusing  on  the  post-2020  recycling 
targets32. 

29 European Commission, 2016. Support to Implementation — The 
Commission helps eight Member States to improve their municipal 
waste management, Slovenia country factsheet. 
30 Eurostat, Municipal waste by waste operations. 
31 Member States may choose a different method than the one used by 
ESTAT (and referred to in this report) to calculate their recycling rates 
and track compliance with the 2020 target of 50 % recycling of 
municipal waste. 
32 Directive (EU) 2018/851, Directive (EU) 2018/852, Directive (EU) 
2018/850 and Directive (EU) 2018/849 amend the previous waste 
legislation and set more ambitious recycling targets for the period up to 
2035. These targets will be taken into consideration to assess progress 
in future Environmental Implementation Reports. 

7 

                                                                 
 
                                                                 
Environmental Implementation Review 2019: Slovenia 

led 

In  2016,  Slovenia  adopted  a  second  waste  management 
plan33 to update the 2013 plan and expand it to cover all 
waste  streams.  This  has 
to  several  positive 
developments  in  municipal  waste  management  and  in 
waste  prevention.  For  example,  Slovenia  has  adopted 
legislation 
for  separate  bio-waste  collection  when 
composting at home is not possible. There are also plans 
to  increase  home  composting.  Other  key  measures  to 
divert  bio-waste  from  landfilling  include  promoting  high 
quality compost and digestate for fertilising purposes and 
guidance on good composting practices. 

Figure 6: Recycling rate of municipal waste 2010-201734 

also 

introduced 

Slovenia  has 
‘pay-as-you-throw’ 
schemes,  although  they  only  apply  to  residual  and  bio-
waste  bins.  Separate  collection  systems  operate  across 
Slovenia. They entail: (i) a door-to-door collection system 
to  collect  bio-waste  (covering  more  than  90 %  of  the 
country) and residual waste; and (ii) a drop-off system for 
dry recyclables. 

On  waste  infrastructure,  in  addition  to  installations  for 
mechanical  biological  treatment  and  incineration,  other 
sites  will  help  to  divert  waste  away  from  landfilling. 
Examples 
include  the  network  of  reuse  and  waste 
prevention  centres  (planned  capacity  5000  t/y)  and  the 
expanding set of recycling/composting plants. 

The  2016  waste  management  plan  sets  out  a  clear 
framework for the measures that are planned to further 
in  Slovenia. 
improve  municipal  waste  management 

33 Programme for management of waste and Waste prevention 
programme of the Republic of Slovenia in accordance with the 
requirements of the Regulation on waste, Regulation on the 
management of packaging and packaging waste, and the Landfill 
Regulation. 
34 Eurostat, Recycling rate of municipal waste. 

However, it is unclear how these measures will be funded 
and their implementation is therefore uncertain. 

2019 priority actions 

 

 

 

 
 

instruments, 

including 
Introduce  new  policy 
economic ones, to promote waste prevention, make 
reuse  and  recycling  more  economically  attractive 
and  shift  reusable  and  recyclable  waste  away  from 
incineration. 
Improve  and  extend  separate  collection  of  waste, 
including  for  bio-waste.  Set  mandatory  recycling 
targets  for  municipalities  with  measures  in  case  of 
non-compliance (e.g. fines). 
Improve  the  functioning  of  extended  producer 
responsibility  systems, 
line  with  the  general 
in 
minimum requirements on EPR35. 
Improve data on waste management. 
Close and rehabilitate the non-compliant  landfills as 
a matter of priority. 

Climate change 

The EU has committed to undertaking ambitious climate 
action internationally as well as in the EU, having ratified 
the Paris Climate Agreement on 5 October 2016. The EU 
targets are to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 
20 % by 2020 and by at least 40 % by 2030, compared to 
1990.  As  a  long-term  target,  the  EU  aims  to  reduce  its 
emissions  by  80-95 %  by  2050,  as  part  of  the  efforts 
required by developed countries as a group. Adapting to 
the adverse effects of climate change is vital to alleviate 
its  already  visible  effects  and  improve  preparedness  for 
and resilience to future impacts. 

The  total  revenues  from  the  auctioning  of  emission 
allowances  under  the  EU  Emissions  Trading  System  (EU 
ETS)  over  the  years  2013-2017  were  EUR 103  million. 
Slovenia  has  spent  67  %  of  the  auctioning  revenues  on 
climate and energy purposes.  

For emissions not covered by the EU ETS, Member States 
have  binding  national  targets  under  the  Effort  Sharing 
legislation36. Slovenia had lower emissions than its annual 
targets  in  each  of  the  years  2013-2017.  For  2020, 
Slovenia's  national  target  under  the  EU  Effort  Sharing 
Decision is to avoid increasing emissions by more than 4 
% compared to 2005. For 2030, Slovenia's national target 
under  the  Effort  Sharing  Regulation  will  be  to  reduce 
emissions by 15 % compared to 2005 (see Figure 8). 

35 Directive (EU) 2018/851. 
36 Regulation (EU) 2018/842. 

8 

 
                                                                 
 
                                                                 
Environmental Implementation Review 2019: Slovenia 

Figure  7:  Change  in  total  greenhouse  gas  emissions 
1990-2017 (1990=100%)37  

Slovenia  has  an  Operational  Programme  for  reducing 
greenhouse  gas  emissions  by  2020  with  an  outlook  to 
indicative 
2030.  The  Operational  Programme  sets 
sectorial  targets  to  reduce  greenhouse  gas  emissions  in 
the non-ETS sectors.  

Figure  8:  Targets  and  emissions  for  Slovenia  under  the 
Effort Sharing Decision and Effort Sharing Regulation38 

37 Annual European Union greenhouse gas inventory 1990–2016 (EEA 
greenhouse gas data viewer). Proxy GHG emission estimates for 2017 
Approximated EU greenhouse gas inventory 2017 (European 
Environment Agency). Member States national projections, reviewed by 
the European Environment Agency. 
38 Proxy GHG emission estimates for 2017 Approximated EU greenhouse 
gas inventory 2017 (European Environment Agency). Member States 
national projections, reviewed by the European Environment Agency. 

9 

Slovenia’s long-term climate strategy for next thirty years 
will  be  prepared  in  accordance  with  the  EU  legislation. 
Transition  to  a  low  carbon  economy  is  already  partly 
elaborated in the Slovenian Development Strategy.  

In  June  2017,  the  Ministry  of  Infrastructure  published  a 
first  document  for  public  debate  on  the  new  Energy 
Concept of Slovenia, to be subsequently approved by the 
Parliament.  The  Concept  is  expected  to  set  an  objective 
to  reduce  greenhouse  gas  emissions  by  80%  by  2050 
compared  to  1990  and  to  reach  a  share  of  at  least  52% 
renewable  energy  sources.  The  draft  document  also 
foresees an increase in the share of renewable energy in 
final  energy  consumption  to  27%  by  2030.  This  increase 
could  be  more  aspirational  taking  into  account  the  EU 
ambition level for 2030 expected under the Recast of the 
Renewable  Energy  Directive  of  the  Energy  Union  was 
revised upwards to 32%. 

Figure 9: Greenhouse gas emissions by sector (Mt. CO2-
eq.). Historical data 1990-2016. Projections 2017-203039 

To  control  emissions  from  fluorinated  greenhouse  gases 
(F-gases),  Member  States  must  implement  training  and 
certification  programmes  and  rules  for  penalties  and 
notify  these  measures  to  the  Commission  by  2017. 
Slovenia has notified both measures.  

The  accounting  of  GHG  emissions  and  removals  from 
forests and agriculture is governed by the Kyoto Protocol. 
Preliminary  accounting  for  2013-2016  shows  net  credits 
of,  on  average,  -0.3  Mt  CO2-eq40  per  year,  which 
corresponds  to  0.2%  of  the  EU-28  accounted  sink  of  -

39 Annual European Union greenhouse gas inventory 1990–2016 (EEA 
greenhouse gas data viewer). Proxy GHG emission estimates for 
2017Approximated EU greenhouse gas inventory 2017 (European 
Environment Agency). Member States national projections, reviewed by 
the European Environment Agency. 
40 Eurostat: A carbon dioxide equivalent or CO2 equivalent, abbreviated 
as CO2-eq is a metric measure used to compare the emissions from 
various greenhouse gases on the basis of their global-warming 
potential, by converting amounts of other gases to the equivalent 
amount of carbon dioxide with the same global warming potential.  

 
 
                                                                 
 
                                                                 
Environmental Implementation Review 2019: Slovenia 

115.7  Mt  CO2-eq.  Slovenia  is  one  of  eight  EU  Member 
States that exceed the cap of 3.5% from emissions of the 
base year (1986). 

The  EU  Strategy  on  adaptation  to  climate  change, 
adopted  in  2013,  aims  to  make  Europe  more  climate-
resilient, by promoting action by Member States, better-
informed  decision  making,  and  promoting  adaptation  in 
key vulnerable sectors. By adopting a coherent approach 
and  providing  for  improved  coordination,  it  seeks  to 
enhance the preparedness and capacity of all governance 
levels to respond to the impacts of climate change.  

strategic  guidelines 

long-term  vision  and 

Slovenia  has  a  National  Adaptation  Strategy  in  place, 
developed  through  its  Strategic  Framework  for  Climate 
Change Adaptation, since 2016. The framework provides 
a 
for 
adaptation-related  activities.  Slovenia  is  currently  in  the 
process of developing a National Action Plan (NAP) based 
on 
comprehensive  national  Climate  Change 
Vulnerability  Assessment.  Sectors  that  have  devoted 
most  attention  to  climate  change  adaptation  action  are 
water  management  (and  associated  risks  of  flood  and 
drought),  agriculture  and  forestry.  No  monitoring  and 
reporting framework is operational to date. 

a 

2019 priority action 

In this report, no priority actions have been included on 
climate action, as the Commission will first need to assess 
the  draft  national  energy  and  climate  plans  which  the 
Member  States  needed  to  send  by  end  of  2018.  These 
plans  should  increase  the  consistency  between  energy 
and climate policies and could therefore become a good 
example  of  how  to  link  sector-specific  policies  on  other 
interlinked themes  such as agriculture-nature-water and 
transport-air-health.  

10 

 
Environmental Implementation Review 2019: Slovenia 

2. Protecting, conserving and enhancing natural capital 

Nature and biodiversity 

in  the  EU  by  2020. 

The  EU  biodiversity  strategy  aims  to  halt  the  loss  of 
biodiversity 
full 
implementation  of  the  Birds  and  Habitats  Directives  to 
achieve  favourable  conservation  status  of  protected 
species and habitats. It also requires that the agricultural 
and  forest  sectors  help  to  maintain  and 
improve 
biodiversity. 

It  requires 

Biodiversity strategy 

Slovenia  adopted  its  first  national  biodiversity  strategy 
and  action  plan  in  200141.  They  expired  in  2011  and  an 
analysis conducted in 2012 concluded that they had not 
been fully implemented. The Ministry of the Environment 
started  working  on  a  new  strategy  in  2014  but  instead 
decided  to  include  national  biodiversity  policy  measures 
into the new national nature conservation programme to 
harmonise  the  adoption  with  a  global  cycle.  It  is  still 
being  prepared  as  a  part  of  the  national  environmental 
protection programme. 

Setting up a coherent network of Natura 2000 sites 

As  of  early  2018,  Slovenia  has  designated  355 Natura 
include  324  sites  of  Community 
2000  sites.  They 
importance  (SCI)  under  the  Habitats  Directive  and  31 
special  protection  areas  (SPA)  under  the  Birds  Directive. 
Together,  these  sites  cover  37.9 %  of  the  land  area,  the 
largest  proportion  of  land  area  coverage  in  the  EU  (EU 
average 18.1 %) and 10.6 km² of marine waters42. 

In relation to the selection of marine SPAs, following the 
Arbitrary  Agreement  with  Croatia,  Slovenia  changed  its 
sea  borders  and  withdrew  from  the  exclusive  economic 
zone. This development reduces a potential need for the 
designation of a new marine Natura 2000 site.  

Slovenia needs to cooperate with neighbouring countries 
to ensure coherent species conservation measures.  

Designating Natura 2000 sites and setting conservation 
objectives and measures 

All  special  areas  of  conservation  were  designated  on 
time.  Their  conservation  objectives  and  measures  are 
outlined  in  the  comprehensive  2015-2020  Natura  2000 
management  programme43.  However,  there  are  still 

41 Ministry of the Environment and Spatial Planning, Biodiversity 
Conservation Strategy of Slovenia, 2001. 
42 European Environmental Agency, Natura 2000 Barometer, 2018. 
43 Government of the Republic of Slovenia, Natura 2000 management 
programme (2015-2020), 2015. 

concerns  about  carrying-out  all  conservation  measures 
effectively  on  the  ground  and  enforcing  implementation 
through  sanctions  and  inspections.  These  concerns  also 
apply  to  SPAs  and  there  have  been  complaints  recently 
on  the  implementation  of  the  nature  directives.  The 
to  adapt  agricultural 
complaints  concern 
activities  on  several  sites,  which  did  not  allow  to  meet 
the sites’ conservation objectives.  

failures 

In  2017,  the  Slovenian  Court  of  Auditors  published  an 
audit report on the management of Natura 2000 sites in 
2015-201644.  The  report  focused  on  the  effectiveness  of 
the management by the government, the Ministry of the 
Environment  and  Spatial  Planning  and  the  Nature 
Protection  Institute.  The  report  concluded  that  the 
management  of  Natura  2000  sites  was  partly  effective 
but that it could be improved. 

The  court  noted  that  the  authorities  had  managed  to 
integrate  conservation  measures 
into  most  of  the 
selected  sectors.  However,  it  said  that  the  integration 
efforts could be improved, especially for agriculture. The 
court  also  concluded  that  the  monitoring  of  the 
implementation 
conservation 
measures was ineffective. 

adaptation  of 

and 

The  awareness  among  some  stakeholder  groups  and 
sectors  about  the  EU  nature  legislation  and  the  Natura 
2000  benefits  has  potential  to  improve.  More  aware 
stakeholders and sectors could in turn better support the 
nature objectives and the biodiversity targets. 

A  bilateral  meeting  on  nature  took  place  in  March  2018 
between the authorities and stakeholders in all economic 
sectors  as  planned  in  the  nature,  people  and  economy 
action  plan.  The  main  implementation  challenges  were 
discussed and a number of conclusions and actions were 
agreed which are to be followed up in 2019. 

44 Slovenian Court of Auditors, Audit report on the management of 
Natura 2000 sites in the period 2015-2016, 2017. 

11 

 
                                                                 
 
                                                                 
Environmental Implementation Review 2019: Slovenia 

Considering that  most  of Slovenia’s habitats and species 
covered  by  the  Habitats  Directive  have  an  unfavourable 
conservation  status  (for  details  please  refer  to  the  2017 
EIR),  it  is  extremely  important  to  fully  implement  the 
conservation  measures  in  all  Natura  2000  sites.  It  is 
equally important to follow up on the conclusions of the 
bilateral  meeting  mentioned  above  and  on 
the 
programme’s midterm review.  

Progress 
restoring 
in  maintaining  or 
conservation status of species and habitats 

favourable 

As  Member  States  report  only  every  6  years  on  the 
progress  made  under  both  directives,  no  new 
information  is  available  on  the  state  of  natural  habitats 
and  species  or  on  the  progress  made  in  improving  the 
conservation  status  of  species  and  habitats  in  Slovenia 
since  the  2017  EIR.  The  next  report  under  Article 17  of 
the Habitats Directive and Article 12 of the Birds Directive 
will be available in 2019. 

2019 priority actions 

 

in 

the 

identified 

to  enable 

the  weaknesses 

  Adopt  concrete  measures 

full 
implementation  of  the  Natura  2000  management 
programme  by  2020.  Ensure  adequate  follow  up  of 
the midterm implementation report due in 2018 and 
the  2017  Court  of  Auditors  report  on  Natura  2000. 
Address 
the 
implementation  of  conservation  measures  together 
with relevant sectors and stakeholders. 
Implement fully conservation measures in all Natura 
2000  sites,  with  special  attention  to  adapting 
agricultural  practices  within 
sites  where 
conservation  status  of  habitats  and/or  species  are 
experiencing a decline due to agricultural activities. 
  Develop  and  promote  smart  and  streamlined 
implementation approaches, in particular as regards 
site appropriate assessment  procedures and species 
permitting  procedures,  ensuring 
the  necessary 
knowledge  and  data  availability  and  strengthen 
communication with stakeholders. 

the 

site  management  bodies) 

  Build capacity of the competent authorities (central, 
the 
regional, 
management 
and 
implementation  of  nature  directives.  Improve  the 
quality  and  availability  of  data  on  the  conservation 
status of habitats and species.  

for 
sites 

of  Natura 

2000 

Maintaining  and  restoring  ecosystems  and 
their services 

The EU biodiversity strategy aims to maintain and restore 
ecosystems  and  their  services  by 
including  green 
infrastructure  in  spatial  planning  and  restoring  at  least 
15 %  of  degraded  ecosystems  by  2020.  The  EU  green 
infrastructure  strategy  promotes  the  incorporation  of 
green infrastructure into related plans and programmes. 

The EU has provided guidance on the further deployment 
of  green  and  blue  infrastructure  in  Slovenia45  and  a 
country page on the Biodiversity Information System for 
Europe  (BISE)46.  This  information  will  also  contribute  to 
the  final  evaluation  of  the  EU  Biodiversity  Strategy  to 
2020. 
Slovenia’s  2030  development  strategy47,  adopted 
in 
December 2017, provides a framework to achieve a high 
quality  of  life  for  all.  The  2004  spatial  development 
strategy48  emphasises  the  ecological,  environmental, 
social and structural purposes of green and open spaces. 
It requires  cities to prepare ‘green  systems’ that include 
elements  of  green 
infrastructure.  City  municipalities 
adopted  ‘sustainable  urban  development  strategies’  in 
2015  and  implementation  plans  in  the  spring  of  2017, 
both  of  which  include  measures  for  the  use  of  green 
infrastructure.  A  2050  spatial  development  strategy  is 
being prepared, which includes a strategic national green 
infrastructure  network  of  multifunctional  spatial  and 
landscape  elements. 
includes  guidelines  for 
integrating  green  infrastructure  into  regional  and  local 
spatial plans. 

It  also 

Considering the Natura 2000 coverage in Slovenia, there 
it  forms  the  backbone  of  the  green 
is  no  doubt 
infrastructure. 
improve 
It  has  to  be  upgraded  to 
ecological  connectivity  among  Natura  2000  sites  and  to 
provide  green  infrastructure  in  urban  areas  outside 
Natura 2000 sites. 

its  green 
Ljubljana  has  become  well  known 
infrastructure and was recognised as the European Green 
Capital in 2016. It has developed a green network, which 
prevents floods and provides multiple  socio-cultural and 
ecological benefits. 

for 

Green  infrastructure  has  been  integrated  into  various 
sectors  in  Slovenia.  Agri-environment-climate  payments 

45 The recommendations of the green infrastructure strategy review 
report and the EU Guidance on a strategic framework for further 
supporting the deployment of EU-level green and blue infrastructure. 
46 Biodiversity Information System for Europe. 
47 Government of the Republic of Slovenia, Slovenia’s Development 
Strategy until 2030, 2017. 
48 Ministry of the Environment, Spatial Planning and Energy, Spatial 
Development Strategy of Slovenia, 2004. 

12 

                                                                 
Environmental Implementation Review 2019: Slovenia 

and  measures  to  support  grassland  habitats  and  species 
are the main tools to promoting green infrastructure on 
agricultural land49. 

The 2015-2021 river basin management plans encourage 
the  use  of  non-structural  measures  to  reduce  floods. 
They  set  conservation  objectives  such  as  ensuring  the 
continuity  of  watercourses  and  maintaining  or  restoring 
riparian habitats (i.e. the zone between land and a  river 
or  stream)50. A  management  plan  was  adopted51  to 
implement the Marine Framework Directive in 2017. This 
will  include  measures  to  protect  sea  floor  integrity  and 
safeguard  the  structure  and 
functions  of  marine 
ecosystems  among  other  measures  to  achieve  good 
environmental status.  

The Sečovlje Salina − coastal green infrastructure 

One  example  of  coastal  green  infrastructure  is  the 
Sečovlje  Salina,  a  coastal  estuary  in  which  evaporation 
basins for sea salt have existed for more than 700 years. 
Habitats  and  species  have  evolved  to  depend  on  this 
environment.  It  is  both  a  Natura  2000  site  and  a 
nationally  designated  protected  area  according  to  the 
Nature  Conservation  Act.  A  private  company,  called 
Soline, was outsourced to manage the area and combine 
salt production with tourism, recreational and education 
activities  while  preserving  the  unique  protected  saline 
habitats  and  vegetation52.  Local  authorities  have  started 
to  restore  other  coastal  wetlands  and  to  develop  cross-
border  blue-green  corridors53 
in  the  Adriatic-Ionian 
region54 with the help of stakeholders. 

Tourism  is  a  big  industry  in  Slovenia  and  the  country  is 
‘green,  active  and  healthy’ 
marketed  as  providing 
experiences55.  Green 
sustainable 
tourism 
development  are  at  the  core  of  Slovenia’s 2017-2021 
sustainable  growth  tourism  strategy56.  Conservation 
action  and  visitor  management  go  hand-in-hand  to 
minimise the negative  environmental impact of tourism. 
There  are  also 
for  green 
infrastructure investment. 

further  opportunities 

and 

There are a number of potential sources of financing for 
(such  as 
green 
agri-
territorial 

including  EU 
cohesion 

infrastructure, 

cooperation, 

policy, 

funds 

49 Trinomics et al., 2016. 
50 Government of the Republic of Slovenia, Natura 2000 management 
programme (2015-2020), 2015. 
51Decree on the marine environment management plan (OJ RS, No. 
41/17).  
52 Trinomics et al., 2016. 
53 Green infrastructure which combines green spaces with aquatic 
ecosystems and other physical features in terrestrial (including coastal) 
and marine areas. 
54 EUSAIR, Towards the Green Coast.  
55 Green scheme of Slovenian tourism. 
56 Ministry of Economic Development and Technology, Strategy for the 
Sustainable Growth of Slovenian Tourism for 2017-2021. 

13 

identified 

improvement  activities 

environmental  measures  and  LIFE  funds).  For  example, 
ERDF funds are used for Natura 2000 projects, prioritising 
restoration  and 
in 
Natura  2000  2015-2020  management  programme,  to 
improve  conservation  status  of  target  species  and 
habitats.57  However,  there  is  a  lack  of  financing  for 
sustainable tourism infrastructure and green bridges e.g. 
along  highways.  Older  roads,  train  tracks,  and  hydro-
power  plants  do  not  incorporate  green  infrastructure 
elements. More financing is needed for research, studies 
and  data  management  on  green 
infrastructure  and 
ecosystem services58. 

Estimating natural capital 

The  EU  biodiversity  strategy  calls  on  Member  States  to 
map  and  assess  the  state  of  ecosystems  and  their 
services59 in their national territories by 2014, assess the 
economic  value  of  such  services  and  integrate  these 
values  into  accounting  and  reporting  systems  at  EU  and 
national level by 2020. 

carried  out 

several  ecosystem 

Slovenia 
services 
assessments  —  mainly  at  local  level.  The  government  is 
currently  collecting  projects  and  research  on  ecosystem 
services to prepare a database of case studies. 

The  Interreg  project  ‘Alpine  Space:  Alpine  ecosystem 
services  —  mapping,  maintenance  and  management’ 
(AlpES)  runs  from  December  2015  to  December  2019.  It 
aims to introduce a framework for regional/transnational 
ecosystem  services  and  help  specific  target  groups  to 
understand,  value  and  manage  them.  The  project  will 
assess eight ecosystem services and will develop and test 
indicators in pilot regions. This process will provide basic 
guidelines for national assessments. 

The  results  of  Slovenia’s  national  assessment  will  feed 
into its first map of ecosystem services. Activities on non-
forested  habitat  types  will  continue  (70 %  of  the  first 
cycle  is  complete)  and  land-use  data  of  forested  and 
agricultural  areas  will  continue  to  be  updated  every  4 
years. 

At the Mapping and Assessment of Ecosystems and their 
Services  (MAES)  working  group  meeting  in  September 
2018,  Slovenia  was  shown  to  have  made  some  progress 
since January 2016 in implementing MAES (Figure 10).  

57 Ministry of the Environment and Spatial Planning, KOHEZIJSKA 
POLITIKA 2014 - 2020 NA PODROČJU OKOLJA IN PROSTORA. 
58 Trinomics, ALTERRA, Arcadis, Risk & Policy Analysis, STELLA 
Consulting, and Regional Environmental Centre (2016) ‘Green 
Infrastructure in Slovenia’, in Supporting the Implementation of Green 
Infrastructure, Final Report to the European Commission under Service 
Contract ENV.B.2/SER/2014/0012, Annex I. 
59 Ecosystem services are benefits provided by nature such as food, 
clean water and pollination on which human society depends. 

                                                                 
                                                                 
Environmental Implementation Review 2019: Slovenia 

Figure 10: Implementation of MAES (September 2018)60 

Figure  11:  Number  of  IAS  of  EU  concern,  based  on 
available georeferenced information for Slovenia64 

This  assessment  was  made  by  the  ESMERALDA  project 
and  based  on  27 
implementation  questions.  The 
assessment is updated every 6 months. 

Business  and  biodiversity  platforms,  networks  and 
communities of practice are key tools for promoting and 
facilitating  natural  capital  assessments  among  business 
and  financial  service  providers,  for  instance  via  the 
Natural  Capital  Coalition’s  protocol61.  The  assessments 
contribute  to  the  EU  biodiversity  strategy  by  helping 
private  businesses  to  better  understand  and  value  both 
their  impact  and  dependence  on  nature.  Biodiversity 
platforms  have  been  established  at  EU  level62  and  in  a 
number  of  Member  States.  Slovenia  has  not  yet 
established such a platform. 

Invasive alien species 

Under  the  EU  biodiversity  strategy,  the  following  are  to 
be achieved by 2020:  
(i) invasive alien species identified;  
(ii) priority species controlled or eradicated; and  
(iii)  pathways  managed  to  prevent  new  invasive  species 
from disrupting European biodiversity.  
This  is  supported  by  the  Invasive  Alien  Species  (IAS) 
Regulation, which entered into force on 1 January 2015. 

The  report  on  the  baseline  distribution  of  invasive  alien 
species63  (Figure  11),  for  which  Slovenia  reviewed  its 
country  and  grid-level  data,  shows  that  eight  of  the  37 
species on the first EU list have already been observed in 
Slovenia.  Seven  of  these  species  are  established  in  the 
country,  but  none  of  them  seem  to  be  very  widely 
distributed.  The  stone  moroko  (Pseudorasbora  parva) 
and  sliders  (Trachemys  scripta)  seem  to  be  the  most 
widely spread invasive alien species (IAS) of EU concern. 

60 Esmeralda Project. 
61 Natural Capital Coalition, Natural Capital Protocol. 
62 Business and Biodiversity, The European Business and Biodiversity 
Campaign aims to promote the business case for biodiversity in the EU 
Member States through workshops, seminars and a cross media 
communication strategy. 
63 Tsiamis K; Gervasini E; Deriu I; D`amico F; Nunes A; Addamo A; De 
Jesus Cardoso A. Baseline Distribution of Invasive Alien Species of Union 
concern. Ispra (Italy): Publications Office of the European Union; 2017. 

Between  the  entry  into  force  of  the  EU  list  and  23 
January  2019,  Slovenia  has  not  notified  two  new 
appearances  of  IAS  of  EU  concern  to  the  Commission 
(Article 16(2) of the IAS Regulation).  

As,  according  to  the  baseline  distribution,  coypu 
(Myocastor coypu) still  seems in an early invasion stage, 
Slovenia is advised to try to eradicate this species to help 
avoid considerable long-term management costs. 

responsible 

Slovenia  has  notified  the  Commission  of  its  competent 
authorities 
IAS 
for 
Regulation in accordance with its Article 24(2). It has also 
informed  the  Commission  of  the  national  provisions  on 
penalties applicable to infringements (Article 30(4)). 

implementing 

the 

Soil protection 

The  EU  soil  thematic  strategy  underlines  the  need  to 
ensure a  sustainable use of soils.  This  entails preventing 
further  soil  degradation  and  preserving  its  functions,  as 
well as restoring degraded soils. The 2011 Roadmap to a 
Resource Efficient Europe states that by 2020, EU policies 
must  take  into  account  their  direct  and  indirect  impact 
on land use. 

Soil  is  a  finite  and  extremely  fragile  resource  and  it  is 
increasingly degrading in the EU. 
The  percentage  of  artificial  land65  (Figure  12)  shows  the 
relative  pressure  on  nature  and  biodiversity  and  the 
environmental  pressure  on  people  living  in  urbanised 
areas. A similar measure is population density. 

64 Tsiamis K; Gervasini E; Deriu I; D`amico F; Nunes A; Addamo A; De 
Jesus Cardoso A. Baseline Distribution of Invasive Alien Species of Union 
concern. Ispra (Italy): Publications Office of the European Union; 2017. 
65 Artificial land cover is defined as the total of roofed built-up areas 
(including buildings and greenhouses), artificial non built-up areas 
(including sealed area features, such as yards, farmyards, cemeteries, 
car parking areas etc. and linear features, such as streets, roads, 
railways, runways, bridges) and other artificial areas (including bridges 
and viaducts, mobile homes, solar panels, power plants, electrical 
substations, pipelines, water sewage plants, and open dump sites). 

14 

                                                                 
 
                                                                 
 
Environmental Implementation Review 2019: Slovenia 

Figure 12: Proportion of artificial land cover, 2015 66 

Slovenia  is  below  the  EU  average  for  artificial  land 
coverage  (3.3 %  vs  4.1 %).  The  population  density  is 
102.5/km2, which is also below the EU average of 11867. 

Contamination  can  severely  reduce  soil  quality  and 
threaten  human  health  or  the  environment.  A  recent 
report  of  the  European  Commission68  estimated  that 
potentially  polluting  activities  have  taken  or  are  still 
taking place on approximately 2.8 million sites in the EU. 
At EU level,  650 000 of these sites have been registered 
in national or regional inventories. 65 500  contaminated 
sites  already  have  been  remediated.  Slovenia  has 
registered 378 sites where potentially polluting activities 
have taken or are taking place. 

Soil erosion by water is a natural process, but this natural 
process can be aggravated by climate change and human 
activities  such  as  inappropriate  agricultural  practices, 
deforestation,  forest  fires  or  construction  works.  High 
levels  of  soil  erosion  can  reduce  productivity 
in 
agriculture  and  can  have  negative  and  transboundary 
impacts  on  biodiversity  and  ecosystem  services.  High 
levels  of  soil  erosion  can  also  have  negative  and 
lakes  (due  to 
transboundary  effects  on  rivers  and 
increased 
transport  of 
and 
volumes 
contaminants).  According  to  the  RUSLE2015  model69, 
Slovenia  has  an  average  soil  loss  rate  by  water  of  7.43 
tonnes per hectare per year (t ha−a yr−y) compared to the 
EU  mean  of  2.46  t ha−a yr−y.  This  indicates  that  soil 

sediment 

66 Eurostat, Land covered by artificial surfaces by NUTS 2 regions. 
67 Eurostat, Population density by NUTS 3 region. 
68 Ana Paya Perez, Natalia Rodriguez Eugenio (2018), Status of local soil 
contamination in Europe: Revision of the indicator “Progress in the 
management Contaminated Sites in Europe”. 
69 Panagos, P., Borrelli, P., Poesen, J., Ballabio, C., Lugato, E., 
Meusburger, K., Montanarella, L., Alewell, C., The new assessment of 
soil loss by water erosion in Europe, (2015) Environmental Science and 
Policy, 54, pp. 438-447. 

erosion  is  high  on  average.  Note  that  these  figures  are 
the output of an EU level model and can therefore not be 
considered as locally measured values. The actual rate of 
soil  loss  can  vary  strongly  within  a  Member  State 
depending on local conditions.  

Soil organic matter plays an important role in the carbon 
cycle  and  in  climate  change.  Slovenia  has  an  average 
concentration of soil organic carbon of 58.9 g/kg (across 
all  land  cover  types)  compared  to  the  EU  mean  of  47 
g/kg. 

Marine protection 

EU coastal and marine policy and legislation require that 
by  2020  the  impact  of  pressures  on  marine  waters  be 
reduced  to  achieve  or  maintain  good  environmental 
status (GES) and ensure that coastal zones are managed 
sustainably. 

The Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD)70 aims 
to achieve good environmental status of the EU’s marine 
waters  by  2020.  To  that  end,  Member  States  must 
develop  a  marine  strategy  for  their  marine  waters,  and 
cooperate  with  the  EU  countries  that  share  the  same 
marine (sub)region. For Slovenia, the Convention for the 
Protection  of  the  Marine  Environment  and  the  Coastal 
Region  of  the  Mediterranean  (Barcelona  Convention) 
plays an important role in achieving the Directive’s goal.  

Member States were required to set up their programme 
of  measures  and  report  to  the  Commission  on  it  by 
31 March  2016.  The  Commission  could  not  assess 
whether  Slovenia’s  measures  were  appropriate  to  reach 
a good environmental status71 given that the country had 
reported  its  measures  too  late  to  be  included  in  the 
Commission’s assessment72. 

2019 priority action 

 

Ensure  reporting  of  the  updates  to  the  different 
steps of the marine  strategy  on time, in accordance 
with  the  deadlines  set 
in  the  Marine  Strategy 
Framework Directive. 

70 Directive 2008/56/EC. 
71 Report from the Commission to the European Parliament and the 
Council assessing Member States' monitoring programmes under the 
Marine Strategy Framework Directive, COM/2017/03 final. 
72 Slovenia reported its programme of measures to the Commission on 
16 August 2017 whereas the due date was 31 March 2016. 

15 

 
                                                                 
 
                                                                 
Environmental Implementation Review 2019: Slovenia 

3. Ensuring citizens’ health and quality of life 

Air quality 

EU clean air  policy and legislation require the significant 
improvement  of  air  quality  in  the  EU,  moving  the  EU 
closer to the quality recommended by the World Health 
Organisation.  Air  pollution  and  its  impacts  on  human 
health,  ecosystems  and  biodiversity  should  be  further 
reduced with the long-term aim of not exceeding critical 
loads  and  levels.  This  requires  strengthening  efforts  to 
reach  full  compliance  with  EU  air  quality  legislation  and 
defining strategic targets and actions beyond 2020. 

The  EU  has  developed  a  comprehensive  body  of  air 
legislation73,  which  establishes  health-based 
quality 
standards and objectives for a number of air pollutants. 

Emissions  of  several  air  pollutants  have  decreased 
in  Slovenia74.  The  emission  reductions 
significantly 
between  1990  and  2014,  mentioned  in  the  2017  EIR, 
continued. Between 2014 and 2016, emissions of sulphur 
oxides  (SOx)  fell  by  49.9 %  and  emissions  of  nitrogen 
oxides  (NOx)  fell  by  7.92 %.  Meanwhile,  emissions  of 
volatile  organic  compounds  (NMVOCs) 
increased  by 
2.17 %, emissions of ammonia (NH3) increased by 4.01 % 
and emissions of fine particulate matter (PM2.5) increased 
by  3.92 %  (see  Figure  13  for  the  total  PM2.5  and  NOx 
emissions per sector). 

Figure  13:  PM2.5  and  NOx  emissions  by  sector 
Slovenia75 

in 

73 European Commission, Air Quality Standards, 2016. 
74 See EIONET Central Data Repository and Air pollutant emissions data 
viewer (NEC Directive) 
75 2016 NECD data submitted by Member State to the EEA. 

16 

Despite these reductions in emissions, the country needs 
to make additional efforts to meet its emission reduction 
commitments  (compared  with  2005  emission  levels)  set 
out by the new National Emissions Ceilings Directive76 for 
the years 2020 to 2029 and from 2030 onwards. 

Air  quality  in  Slovenia  continues  to  give  cause  for 
concern.  For  2015,  the  European  Environment  Agency77 
estimated  that  about  1 800  premature  deaths  were 
attributable  to  fine  particulate  matter78  concentrations, 
100  to  ozone79  concentrations  and  160  to  nitrogen 
dioxide80 concentrations. 

201781, 

exceedances  were 

For 
for 
concentrations of particulate matter (PM10) in 2 out of 4 
air  quality  zones  (Celje  and  Ljubljana).  In  addition, 
Slovenia  reported  exceedances  above  target  values  for 
ozone concentrations. 

registered 

See  Figure  14  for  the  number  of  air  quality  zones 
exceeding NO2, PM2.5, and PM10 levels. 

Figure  14:  Air  quality  zones  exceeding  EU  air  quality 
standards in 201782 

The  persistent  breaches  of  air  quality  standards  (for 
PM10), which have severe negative effects on health and 
the environment, are being followed up by the European 
Commission  through 
in  all 
Member States concerned, including Slovenia. The aim is 

infringement  procedures 

76 Directive 2016/2284/EU. 
77 EEA, Air Quality in Europe – 2018 Report, p. 64. Please see details in 
this report as regards the underpinning methodology. 
78 Particulate matter (PM) is a mixture of aerosol particles (solid and 
liquid) covering a wide range of sizes and chemical compositions. PM10 
(PM2.5) refers to particles with a diameter of 10 (2.5) micrometres or 
less. PM is emitted from many anthropogenic sources, including 
combustion. 
79 Low-level ozone is produced by photochemical action. 
80 NOx is emitted during fuel combustion e.g. from industrial facilities 
and the road transport sector. NOx is a group of gases comprising 
nitrogen monoxide (NO) and nitrogen dioxide (NO2). 
81 EEA, EIONET Central Data Repository. 
82EEA, EIONET Central Data Repository. Data reflects the reporting 
situation as of 26 November 2018. 

 
                                                                 
 
                                                                 
 
Environmental Implementation Review 2019: Slovenia 

to  ensure  that  adequate  measures  are  put  in  place  to 
bring all zones into compliance. 

Figure  15:  Number  of  IED  industrial  installations  by 
sector, Slovenia (2015)86 

2019 priority actions 

 

Take action, under the National Air Pollution Control 
Programme  (NAPCP),  to  reduce  the  main  emission 
sources. 

  Accelerate the reduction in particulate matter (PM2.5 
and  PM10)  emissions  and  concentrations.  This  will 
require,  for  example,  further  reducing  emissions 
from  energy  production  and  heat  generation  using 
solid  fuels,  or  increasing  efficient  and  clean  district 
heating. 

  Upgrade  and  improve  the  air  quality  monitoring 
network,  and  ensure  timely  reporting  of  adequate 
data. 

Industrial emissions 

The  main objectives of EU policy on industrial emissions 
are to: 
(i) protect air, water and soil; 
(ii) prevent and manage waste; 
(iii) improve energy and resource efficiency; and  
(iv) clean up contaminated sites.  
To  achieve  this,  the  EU  takes  an  integrated  approach  to 
the  prevention  and  control  of  routine  and  accidental 
industrial emissions. The cornerstone of the policy is the 
Industrial Emissions Directive83 (IED). 

The  below  overview  of  industrial  activities  regulated  by 
the  Industrial  Emissions  Directive  (IED)  is  based  on  the 
‘industrial emissions policy country profiles’ project84. 

In Slovenia, around 190 industrial installations must have 
a  permit  according  to  the  IED85.  In  2015,  the  industrial 
sectors  in  Slovenia  with  the  most  IED  installations  (see 
Figure  15)  were  the  intensive  rearing  of  poultry  or  pigs 
(16 %),  non-hazardous  waste  management  (14 %)  and 
surface  treatment  using  an  electrolytic  or  chemical 
process (12 %). 

The sectors identified as contributing the most emissions 
to air in Slovenia are: (i) energy-power for sulphur oxides 
(SOx),  nitrogen  oxides  (NOx),  particulate  matter  (PM2.5) 
and  mercury  (Hg);  (ii)  ‘other  activities’  (mainly  the 
intensive  rearing  of  poultry  and  pigs,  surface  treatment 
and  pulp,  paper  and  wood  products)  for  non-methane 
volatile  organic  compounds  (NMVOC)  and  ammonia 
(NH3); (iii) iron and steel for most of the reported heavy 
metals (HM) (e.g. Cd, Pb, Hg); and (iv) non-ferrous metal 
production  for  sulphur  oxides  (SOx),  and  cadmium  (Cd). 
The breakdown is shown in Figure 16. 

Figure 16: Emissions to air from IED sectors and all other 
national total air emissions, Slovenia (2015) 

83 Directive 2010/75/EU covers industrial activities carried out above 
certain thresholds. It covers energy industry, metal production, mineral 
and chemical industry and waste management, as well as a wide range 
of industrial and agricultural sectors (e.g. intensive rearing of pig and 
poultry, pulp and paper production, painting and cleaning). 
84 European Commission, Industrial emissions policy country profile – 
Slovenia. 
85 This overview of industrial activities regulated by IED is based on the 
project on Industrial Emissions policy Country profiles: Ricardo Energy 
and Environment, Industrial emissions country profile Slovenia, 2018. 

On  water  emissions,  the  chemicals  sector  contributes 
most to copper (Cu) emissions, the iron and steel sector 
contributes  most  to  nickel  (Ni)  emissions  and  ‘other 
activities’  (mainly  the  intensive  rearing  of  poultry  and 
pigs  and  surface  treatment  of  metals  and  plastics) 
contribute  most  to  total  organic  carbon  and  zinc  (Zn) 

86 European Commission, Industrial emissions policy country profile – 
Slovenia. 

17 

                                                                 
 
 
                                                                 
Environmental Implementation Review 2019: Slovenia 

emissions.  No  data  have  been  reported  for  the  waste 
management,  energy-power  and  mineral 
industry 
sectors. 

The enforcement approach under the IED creates strong 
rights for citizens to have access to relevant information 
and  to  participate  in  the  permitting  process  for  IED 
installations. This empowers NGOs and the general public 
to  ensure  that  permits  are  appropriately  granted  and 
their conditions respected. 

The best available techniques (BAT) reference documents 
and  BAT  conclusions  are  developed 
the 
information  between  Member  States, 
exchange  of 
industrial  associations,  NGOs  and  the  Commission.  This 
ensures  a  good  collaboration  with  stakeholders  and  a 
better application of the IED rules. 

through 

Thanks  to  the  national  competent  authorities’  efforts  to 
apply the legally binding BAT conclusions and associated 
BAT  emission  levels  in  environmental  permits,  pollution 
has decreased considerably and continuously in the EU. 

For  example,  by  applying  the  recently  adopted  BAT 
emission levels for large combustion plants, emissions of 
sulphur dioxide will be  cut  on average by between 25 % 
and 81 %, nitrogen oxide by between 8 % and 56 %, dust 
by  between  31 %  and  78 %  and  mercury  by  between 
19 %  and  71 %.  The  extent  of  the  reduction  depends  on 
the situation in individual plants. 

2019 priority actions 

  Review permits to ensure that they comply with the 

 

newly adopted BAT conclusions. 
Strengthen  control  and  enforcement  to  ensure 
compliance with the BAT conclusions. 

Noise 

The  Environmental  Noise  Directive87  provides  for  a 
common  approach  to  avoiding,  preventing  and  reducing 
the harmful effects of exposure to environmental noise. 

Excessive noise from aircraft, railways and roads is one of 
the  main  causes  of  environmental  health-related  issues 
in  the  EU88.  Based  on  a 
limited  set  of  data 89, 
environmental noise causes at least 50 premature deaths 
per  year  in  Slovenia  and  is  responsible  for  around  150 
hospital  admissions.  Noise  also  disturbs  the  sleep  of 
roughly  60 000  people  in  Slovenia.  The  Environmental 
Noise Directive is being implemented. The noise mapping 

for the previous reporting round (reference year 2011) is 
complete as are the action plans (reference year 2013). 

These  instruments,  adopted  after  public  consultations, 
should include the measures to keep noise low or reduce 
it.  

Water quality and management 

EU  legislation  and  policy  requires  that  the  impact  of 
pressures  on  transitional,  coastal  and  fresh  waters 
(including  surface  and  ground  waters)  be  significantly 
reduced.  Achieving,  maintaining  or  enhancing  a  good 
status  of  water  bodies  as  defined  by  the  Water 
Framework Directive  will  ensure that EU citizens benefit 
from good quality and safe drinking and bathing water. It 
will  further  ensure  that  the  nutrient  cycle  (nitrogen  and 
phosphorus)  is  managed  in  a  more  sustainable  and 
resource-efficient way. 

The  existing  EU  water  legislation90  puts  in  place  a 
protective  framework  to  ensure  high  standards  for  all 
water  bodies  in  the  EU  and  addresses  specific  pollution 
sources  (for  example,  from  agriculture,  urban  areas  and 
industrial  activities).  It  also  requires  that  the  projected 
into  the 
impacts  of  climate  change  are 
corresponding  planning 
risk 
management  plans  and  river  basin  management  plans, 
including  programme  of  measures  which  include  the 
actions  that  Member  States  plan  to  take  in  order  to 
achieve the environmental objectives. 

instruments  e.g. flood 

integrated 

Water Framework Directive 

reported 

the  second 
Slovenia  has  adopted  and 
generation  of  River  Basin  Management  Plans  under  the 
Water  Framework  Directive.  The  European  Commission 
has  assessed  the  status  and  the  development  since  the 
adoption  of  the  first  River  Basin  Management  Plans, 
including suggested actions in the EIR report 2017. 

The  most  significant  pressures  on  surface  water  is  an 
unknown  anthropogenic  pressure  (affecting  99%  of 
surface  water  bodies),  followed  by  urban  wastewater 
(73%)  and  physical  alterations  (59%).  For  groundwater 
bodies,  the  most  significant  pressure  is  diffuse  pollution 
from agriculture (14%). 

Chemical pollution was the most significant impact on all 
surface water categories (affecting 99% of surface water 
bodies), followed by organic pollution (73%) and nutrient 

87 Directive 2002/49/EC. 
88 WHO/JRC, 2011, Burden of disease from environmental noise, 
Fritschi, L., Brown, A.L., Kim, R., Schwela, D., Kephalopoulos, S. (eds), 
World Health Organisation, Regional Office for Europe, Copenhagen, 
Denmark. 
89 European Environment Agency, Noise Fact Sheets 2017. 

90 This includes the Bathing Waters Directive (2006/7/EC), the Urban 
Waste Water Treatment Directive (91/271/EEC) (on discharges of 
municipal and some industrial wastewaters), the Drinking Water 
Directive (98/83/EC) (on potable water quality), the Water Framework 
Directive (2000/60/EC) (on water resources management), the Nitrates 
Directive (91/676/EEC) and the Floods Directive (2007/60/EC). 

18 

                                                                 
                                                                 
Environmental Implementation Review 2019: Slovenia 

pollution  (72%).  For  groundwater,  nutrient  pollution 
(14%) was the most significant impact. 

is low in a very significant proportion of water bodies but 
significant progress has been made.  

The  confidence  in  the  classification  of  the  ecological 
status  has  improved  significantly.  The  number  of  water 
bodies  with  unknown  status/potential  has  decreased 
significantly.  

The  monitoring  situation  of  the  quantitative  status  of 
groundwater bodies has improved as the number of sites 
monitored has increased. All groundwater bodies were in 
good quantitative status. 

The  ecological  status/potential  is  at  least  good  for  most 
natural  lakes  and  rivers,  and  in  all  coastal  waterbodies 
(see Figure 17). There was an increase in the proportion 
of  water  bodies  of  at  least  good  status/potential  from 
52%  to  58%  between  the  first  (2009-2015)  and  second 
River  Basin  Management  Plans  (2016-2021)  while  there 
was  a  decrease  in  the  proportion  with  unknown  status 
from 10% to 3%. 

Most  significant  pressures  are  identified  in  the  River 
Basin  Management  Plans  and  addressed  by  measures 
(Key type of measures) mapped against most of these in 
the  Danube  River  Basin  District  (RBD)  (fewer  in  the 
Adriatic  RBD).  Some  measures  have  been  completed 
since  the  first  Programme  of  Measures  but  obstacles 
such as lack of finance and lack of measures in both RBD 
have occurred. 

Figure 17: Ecological status or potential of surface water 
bodies in Slovenia91 

There  is  no  new  data  on  drinking  water  since  the  2017 
EIR, which found Slovenia’s compliance with the Drinking 
Water  Directive’s  microbiological 
chemical 
parameters to be very high. 

and 

Bathing Water Directive 

Figure 18 shows that in 2017, out of Slovenia’s 47 bathing 
waters, 74.5 % were of excellent  quality, 23.4 % of good 
quality  and  2.1 %  of  sufficient  quality  (74.5 %,  17 %  and 
8.5 %  respectively  in  2016)92.  Detailed  information  on 
Slovenia’s  bathing  waters  is  available  on  a  national  web 
portal93  and  on  an  interactive  map  viewer  designed  and 
hosted by the European Environment Agency94. 
Figure 18: Bathing water quality 2014–201795 

in 

the  methodology 

There  was  a  large  decrease  in  the  proportion  of  surface 
water  bodies  with  good  chemical  status  from  95%  to 
0.6%  comparing  the  status  described  in  the  first  and 
second  River  Basin  Management  Plans,  resulting  largely 
from  differences 
for  status 
classification  used  in  these  two  Plans.  This  is  a  general 
pattern and might be due to the presence of mercury in 
biota.  There  are  relatively  few  lake  and  coastal  water 
monitoring  sites  overall  and  only  around  half  are  being 
monitored  for  chemical  status.  Monitoring  of  Priority 
Substances has not been undertaken in all surface water 
bodies but an assessment of chemical status in all surface 
water  bodies  has  been  made  by  expert  judgement  or 
extrapolation. The confidence in the assessment of status 

91 EEA, WISE dashboard. 

92 European Environment Agency, European bathing water quality in 
2016, 2017, p. 17. 
93 Ministry of the Environment and Spatial Planning, Kopalne vode.  
94 EEA, State of bathing waters. 
95 European Environment Agency, European bathing water quality in 
2017, 2018, p. 21. 

19 

 
                                                                 
 
                                                                 
Environmental Implementation Review 2019: Slovenia 

Urban Waste Water Treatment Directive  

that 

2010) 

its 
and 

first  and  second 
showed 

Slovenia has not met the deadline of 31 December 2015 
for  the 
implementation  of  the  Urban  Wastewater 
Treatment  Directive96.  The  data  for  2014  on  Slovenia’s 
transitional 
compliance  with 
deadlines 
15 
(2008 
agglomerations  did  not  meet  the  requirements  on 
collection and on secondary treatment. Slovenia has also 
had problems with the delineation of agglomerations and 
with 
individual  systems  such  as  septic  tanks.  The 
Commission  is  following-up  on  these  instances  of  non-
compliance. 
An investment  of around EUR 420  million97 is needed to 
ensure that wastewater in the remaining agglomerations 
is  properly  collected  and  treated.  The  planned  projects 
are  only  expected  to  be  completed  by  2021,  which  far 
exceeds  the  2015  deadline  set  in  Slovenia’s  Accession 
Treaty.  Slovenia  must  therefore  finalise  the  projects  for 
the agglomerations that are in breach of the Directive as 
soon as possible. 

Nitrates Directive 

Regarding  nitrates,  Slovenia’s  rivers  have  extremely  low 
concentrations  of  nitrates.  Nitrate  levels  in  Slovenia’s 
less  than  10 mg/l.  Although 
rivers  are  on  average 
concentrations increased in 2012-2015 as compared with 
2008-2011.  Moreover, 
for  the  same  periods,  the 
proportion  of  groundwater  monitoring  stations  with  an 
average  nitrates  concentration  above  50 mg/l  increased 
from 7.7 % to 11.6 %. Slovenia  applies its nitrates action 
programme  throughout  the  country  as  the  entire 
territory  of  Slovenia  has  been  designated  as  a  nitrate 
vulnerable zone. 

Floods Directive 

The  Floods  Directive  established  a  framework  for  the 
assessment and management of flood risks, aiming at the 
reduction  of  the  adverse  consequences  associated  with 
significant floods. 

Slovenia  has  adopted  and  reported  its  first  Flood  Risk 
Management Plans under the Directive and the European 
Commission conducted an assessment. 

The  Commission’s  assessment  found  that  good  efforts 
were made with positive results in setting objectives and 
devising  measures  focusing  on  prevention,  protection 
and  preparedness.  The  assessment  also  showed  that,  as 
was  the  case  for  other  Member  States,  Slovenia’s  Flood 
Risk Management Plans do not yet include a baseline to 
monitor  the  progress  achieved  in  implementing  the 
measures  (and  by  extension  of  the  objectives  too).  In 
addition,  there  is  scope  for  reinforcing  the  aspect  of 

96 COM(2017) 749 and SWD(2017) 445. 
97 COM(2017) 749 and SWD(2017) 445. 

involvement  of 
public  participation  and  the  active 
stakeholders  in  relation  to  the  Flood  Risk  Management 
Plan. 

2019 priority actions 

 

 

  Continue to improve monitoring of surface waters by 
covering  all  relevant  quality  elements  in  all  water 
categories, and should complete the development of 
assessment  methods  for  all  relevant  biological 
quality elements in all water categories. 
Take steps in order to ensure the implementation of 
measures  to  address  hydromorphological  pressures, 
if  necessary  by  reviewing  permits/concessions  and 
allocating the necessary resources. 
Complete  necessary  projects 
full 
compliance  with  Urban  Wastewater  Treatment 
Directive as soon as possible. 
Ensure  effective  implementation  of  measures  to 
address  nutrients  pollution 
from  agriculture, 
following 2015 legislative amendments. 
Take  steps  to  reinforce  the  aspect  of  public 
involvement  of 
the  active 
participation  and 
stakeholders 
the  Flood  Risk 
to 
Management Plan. 

to  ensure 

relation 

in 

 

 

Chemicals 

The  EU  seeks  to  ensure  that  by  2020  chemicals  are 
produced and used in ways that minimise any significant 
adverse  effects  on  human  health  and  the  environment. 
An  EU  strategy  for  a  non-toxic  environment  that  is 
conducive  to  innovation  and  to  developing  sustainable 
substitutes,  including  non-chemical  options,  is  being 
prepared. 

legislation98  provides  baseline 
The  EU’s  chemicals 
protection for human health and the environment. It also 
for  businesses 
ensures  stability  and  predictability 
operating within the internal market. 

In  2016,  the  European  Chemicals  Agency 
(ECHA) 
published  a  report  on  the  operation  of  Registration, 
Evaluation,  Authorisation  and  Restriction  of  Chemicals 
(REACH)  and  the  Classification,  Labelling  and  Packaging 
(CLP)  Regulation99 
that  enforcement 
that  showed 
activities  are  still  evolving.  Member  States  cooperate 
closely within the Forum for Exchange of Information on 
Enforcement  100.  This  cooperation  has  shown  that  there 
is  scope  to  increase  the  effectiveness  of  enforcement 

98 Principally for chemicals: REACH (OJ L 396, 30.12.2006, p.1.); for 
Classification, Labelling and Packaging, the CLP Regulation (: OJ L 252, 
31.12.2006, p.1.), together with legislation on biocidal products and 
plant protection products. 
99 European Chemicals Agency, Report on the Operation of REACH and 
CLP 2016. 
100 ECHA, On the basis of the projects REF-1, REF-2 and REF-3. 

20 

                                                                 
                                                                 
Environmental Implementation Review 2019: Slovenia 

activities,  particularly  for  registration  obligations  and 
safety  data  sheets  where  the  level  of  non-compliance  is 
still relatively high. 

While progress has been made, there is room to further 
improve and harmonise enforcement activities across the 
EU,  including  controls  on  imported  goods.  Enforcement 
in  some  Member  States,  particularly 
remains  weak 
regarding  controls  on 
imports  and  supply  chain 
obligations.  The  enforcement  architecture  is  complex  in 
most  EU  countries  and  enforcement  projects  reveal 
differences in compliance between Member States. 

A  2015  Commission  study  already  emphasised  the 
importance  of  harmonised  market  surveillance  and 
enforcement  when  implementing  REACH  at  Member 
State  level,  deeming  it  to  be  a  critical  success  factor  in 
the operation of a harmonised single market101. 

In March 2018, the Commission published an evaluation 
of  REACH102.  The  evaluation  concludes  that  REACH 
delivers  on  its  objectives,  but  that  progress  made  is 
slower  than  anticipated.  In  addition,  the  registration 
dossiers often are incomplete. The evaluation underlines 
the need to enhance enforcement by all actors, including 
registrants,  downstream  users  and 
in  particular  for 
importers,  to  ensure  a  level  playing  field,  meet  the 
objectives  of  REACH  and  ensure  consistency  with  the 
actions envisaged to improve environmental compliance 
and  governance.  Consistent  reporting  of  Member  State 
enforcement activities  was considered  important  in that 
respect. 

In  Slovenia,  the  Chemicals  Office  of  the  Republic  of 
Slovenian  (CORS)  —  a  constituent  body  within  the 
Ministry of Health103, is responsible for enforcing REACH 
and the CLP Regulation. 

Making cities more sustainable 

EU policy on the urban environment encourages cities to 
put  policies  in  place  for  sustainable  urban  planning  and 
design.  These  should  include  innovative  approaches  to 
sustainable 
urban  public 
buildings,  energy  efficiency  and  urban  biodiversity 
conservation. 

transport  and  mobility, 

living 

in  Europe 

in  urban  areas 

is 
The  population 
projected to rise to just over 80% by 2050104. Urban areas 
pose  particular  challenges  for  the  environment  and 
human  health,  but  they  also  provide  opportunities  for 
using  resources  more  efficiently.  The  EU  encourages 
municipalities to become greener through initiatives such 

101 European Commission, Monitoring the Impacts of REACH on 
Innovation, Competitiveness and SMEs, Final Report, 2015. 
102 COM(2018) 116. 
103 ECHA, National Inspectorates – Slovenia.  
104 European Commission, Eurostat, Urban Europe, 2016, p.9. 

21 

as  the  Green  Capital  Award105,  the  Green  Leaf  Award106 
and the Green City Tool107. 

Financing greener cities 

Slovenia has assigned about EUR 122 million or 4 % of its 
cohesion  policy  allocation 
sustainable  urban 
development.  This  includes  EUR 112  million  or  7.9 % 
under  the  European  Regional  Development  Fund  (ERDF) 
and EUR 10 million or 1.1 % under the cohesion fund108. 

to 

the 

participates 

Slovenia 
European  Urban 
in 
Development  Network  (UDN)109,  which  includes  more 
than 500 cities across the EU responsible for carrying out 
integrated  measures  based  on  sustainable  urban 
development strategies financed by ERDF in 2014-2020. 

Of  the  UDN’s 
initiatives,  the  ERDF  supports  urban 
innovative actions to test new and unproven solutions for 
urban  challenges.  The  urban  innovation  actions  have  a 
total  ERDF  budget  of  EUR 372  million  for  2014-2020. 
Slovenia  has  received  funding  for  two  urban  innovation 
actions on the circular economy: the Applause project in 
Ljubljana and the Urban soil 4 food project in Maribor110. 

Participation in EU urban initiatives and networks 

Slovenian  municipalities  are  generally  involved  in  EU 
initiatives  on  environmental  protection  and  climate 
change. 
Ljubljana received the EU Green Capital Award in 2016111 
for having put in place a comprehensive set of policies to 
create a more sustainable city. 

Five Slovenian municipalities are involved in 11 different 
thematic  networks112  under  the  URBACT113  initiative  to 
support sustainable urban development. Several of these 
networks, such as the Active Travel Network Results and 
the Urban Green Labs, also have an environmental angle. 
Maribor seems to be the most active Slovenian city in the 
URBACT initiative, participating in six networks. 

Several  Horizon  2020  network  projects  have  also 
contributed  to  the  sustainability  of  Slovenian  cities.  For 
example,  the  CIVITAS  Prosperity  project,  described  later 
in this section.  

105 European Commission, European Green Capital. 
106 European Commission, European Green Leaf Award. 
107 European Commission, Green City Tool. 
108Partnership Agreement between Slovenia and the European 
Commission for the period 2014-2020, 2014, p. 200. 
109 European Commission, The Urban Development Network. 
110 Urban Innovative Actions (UIA) Initiative. 
111 European Commission, Ljubljana becomes European Green Capital 
2016. 
112 URBACT, Associated Networks by country. 
113 URBACT programme is the European Territorial Cooperation 
programme aiming to foster sustainable integrated urban development 
in cities across Europe. 

                                                                 
                                                                 
Environmental Implementation Review 2019: Slovenia 

Urban sprawl 

Slovenia had a weighted urban proliferation rate, at 1.73 
UPU/m2 118 in 2009 compared to a European average (EU-
28+4)  of  1.64  UPU/m2,  having  increased  by  13 %  from 
2006 to 2009119. 

Traffic congestion and urban mobility 

Traffic congestion is not  among the main  environmental 
issues  affecting  Slovenia.  However,  many  subjects 
covered 
in  this  report  are  partly  related  to  traffic 
congestion, especially air quality and noise. 

Slovenia had 531 passenger cars per 1 000 inhabitants in 
2016,  slightly  above  the  EU  average  of  505.  This  is  an 
increase  on  2014  when  there  were  518  passenger  cars 
per  1 000 
increase,  the 
amount  of  hours  spent  per  year  in  traffic  jams  has  not 
gone up. At 27.39 hours spent in traffic jams in 2014 and 
26.95  hours  in  2016,  Slovenia  is  in  line  with  the  EU 
average on traffic congestion121. 

inhabitants120.  Despite  this 

Traffic  congestion  in  Slovenia’s  cities  is  generally  low. 
Ljubljana 
is  the  only  city  with  a  somewhat  high 
congestion level122. Compared with other European cities 
(EU  cities  plus  Norwegian,  Swiss  and  Russian  cities), 
Ljubljana  is  the  202nd  most  congested  city  of  the  215 
cities on the list. 

Passenger  cars  account  for  86.3 %  of  inland  passenger 
transport  in  Slovenia  (EU-28  average  82.9 %).  Buses  and 
trolley  buses  account  for  around  11.8 %  (EU  average 
9.4 %) of passenger transport and trains for only 2 % (EU 
average  7.7 %)123.  This  makes  Slovenia  the  EU  country 
with the fourth highest  share of passenger car transport 
after Portugal, Lithuania and the United Kingdom. While, 
cars  are  the  favourite  mode  of  transport  in  Slovenia, 
3.4 %  above  the  EU  average,  rail  transport  is  much  less 
popular (5.7 % below the EU average)124. 

66.7 % of freight transport is by road (EU average 76.4 %) 
and  33.3 %  by  railways  (EU  average  17.4 %)125.  These 
figures 
indicate  a  high  degree  of  environmental 
sustainability,  especially  the  proportion  of  rail  transport 
of freight, which is 15.9 % above the EU average. 

However,  aside  from  the  freight  transport  figures,  the 
country’s transport sector is characterised by high energy 
and carbon intensity 

118 Urban Permeation Units measure the size of the built-up area as well 
as its degree of dispersion throughout the region. 
119 EEA, Urban Sprawl in Europe, Annex I, 2014, pp.4-5. 
120 Eurostat, Passenger cars per 1 000 inhabitants, 2018. 
121 European Commission, Hours spent in road congestion annually. 
122 TOMTOM, TOMTOM Traffic Index. 
123 Eurostat, Passenger transport Statistics by modal split. 
124 Eurostat, Modal split of passenger transport. 
125 Eurostat, Modal split of freight transport. 

29  Slovenian  cities  are  also  actively  involved  in  the  EU 
Covenant  of  Mayors  for  Climate  and  Energy  initiative  as 
of June 2018. 

Given  that  in  2017,  20.7 %  of  people  living  in  Slovenian 
cities  said  that  their  neighbourhood  was  affected  by 
pollution,  grime  or  other  environmental  problems  (the 
EU  average  was  around  20 %)114,  such  efforts  should  be 
strongly encouraged. 

Nature and cities 

Around  18 %  of  Slovenia’s  Natura  2000  network  is  in 
functional urban areas115, above the EU average of 15 % 
(see Figure 19). 

Figure  19:  Proportion  of  Natura  2000  network 
Functional Urban Areas (FUA) 116 

in 

Infrastructure  and  Urban  Biodiversity 

Ljubljana  took  part  in  the  2013-2017  ‘Green  Surge’ 
(Green 
for 
Sustainable  Urban  Development  and 
the  Green 
Economy) project. The project aimed to identify, develop 
and  test  ways  of  connecting  green  spaces,  biodiversity, 
people and the green economy, to meet the major urban 
challenges 
to  climate  change  adaptation, 
demographic changes, human health and well-being117. 

related 

114 Eurostat, Pollution, grime or other environmental problems by 
degree of urbanisation. 
115 European Commission, Definition of Functional Urban Areas. 
116 European Commission, the 7th Report on Economic, Social and 
Territorial Cohesion, 2017, p. 121. 
117 European Commission, GREEN SURGE. 

22 

 
 
                                                                 
                                                                 
Environmental Implementation Review 2019: Slovenia 

Slovenia  is  focusing  on  developing  its  car  market.  An 
estimated 1 % of cars in circulation will be electric cars by 
2020  and  this  will  rise  to  an  estimated  16.9 %  by  2030. 
Slovenia  has  good  recharging  facilities  in  place  —  one 
public  recharging  point  for  every  1.64  electric  vehicles. 
The development of the electric car market is supported 
by  currently  applied  or  planned  measures,  such  as  tax 
exemptions  and  benefits  and  incentives  to  buy  and  use 
electric cars126. 

There  is  no  legal  obligation  for  local  authorities  to 
implement  sustainable  urban  mobility  plans  (SUMPs)  in 
Slovenia.  However,  the  Ministry  of  Infrastructure,  which 
is  responsible  for  urban  transport,  has  recognised  the 
importance  of  SUMPs  and  started  to  support  SUMP 
actions at different levels. It has developed, among other 
measures, a national platform for sustainable mobility. In 
addition, Slovenia (Ljutomer) is taking part in the Horizon 
2020 Prosperity project. This project aims to build cities’ 
that 
capacity 
genuinely  reflect  the  spirit  of  the  EU  SUMP  guidelines, 
rather than simply creating additional paper work.  

implement  SUMPs 

to  develop  and 

Slovenia  is  developing  and  testing  innovative  traffic 
management measures to reduce the energy and carbon 
intensity  of  transport.  For 
instance,  the  Connecting 
Europe  Facility  co-finances  the  national  initiative  to  set 
up  a  traffic  management  centre.  This  centre  will  help 
monitor  and  manage  traffic  and  provide  traffic-related 
information.  Once  in  place,  it  should  improve  mobility, 
traffic safety, and reduce environmental harm127. 

126 European Commission, Transport in the European Union, Current 
Trends and Issues, 2018. 
127 INEA, Traffic Management Integration in the National Traffic 
Management Centre 2. 

23 

 
 
                                                                 
Environmental Implementation Review 2019: Slovenia 

Part II: Enabling framework: implementation tools 

4. Green taxation, green public procurement, environmental funding and 

investments 

Green  taxation  and  environmentally  harmful 
subsidies 

Financial 
incentives,  taxation  and  other  economic 
instruments  are  effective  and  efficient  ways  to  meet 
environmental  policy  objectives.  The  circular  economy 
action  plan  encourages  their  use.  Environmentally 
harmful  subsidies  are  monitored  in  the  context  of  the 
European  Semester  and  the  energy  union  governance 
process. 

Slovenia’s revenue from environmentally relevant taxes 
remains  above  the  EU  average.  Environmental  taxes 
stood at 3.73 % of GDP in 2017 (EU-28 average: 2.4 %), 
as  shown  in  Figure  20,  and  energy  taxes  at  3.16 %  of 
GDP, against an EU average of 1.84 %. In the same year, 
the  environmental  tax  came  to  10.13 %  of  total 
revenues  from  taxes  and  social  security  contributions 
(much higher than the EU-28 average of 5.97 %). 

 
 
 

 

 

 

 

 

to 

CO2 emissions;  
the use of lubricating oils and fluids;  
environmental  pollution  due  to  the  generation  of 
waste  with  end-of-life  tires  resulting  from  the  use 
of a tires;  
the  use  of 
environmental  pollution  due 
packaging  and  wrapped  goods  and  consequently 
the generation of packaging waste;  
environmental  pollution  caused  by  the  use  of 
including 
electrical  and  electronic  equipment, 
portable 
and 
and 
consequently  the  generation  of  electrical  and 
electronic equipment waste;  
environmental  pollution  due  to  the  use  of  volatile 
organic compounds;  
environmental  pollution  caused  by  waste  water 
discharge; and  
environmental  pollution  from  the  landfilling  of 
waste129. 

accumulators, 

batteries 

Figure  20:  Environmental  tax  revenues  as  %  of  GDP 
(2017)128 

Green public procurement 

The  EU  green  public  procurement  policies  encourage 
Member  States  to  take  further  steps  to  apply  green 
procurement criteria to at least 50 % of public tenders. 
The European Commission is helping to increase the use 
of  public  procurement  as  a  strategic  tool  to  support 
environmental protection. 

The  purchasing  power  of  public  procurement  amounts 
to around EUR 1.8 trillion in the EU (approximately 14% 
of GDP). A substantial proportion of this money goes to 
sectors  with  a  high  environmental  impact  such  as 
construction  or  transport.  Therefore,  green  public 
procurement  (GPP)  can  help  to  significantly  lower  the 
negative impact of public spending on the environment 
and can help support sustainable innovative businesses. 
The Commission has proposed EU GPP criteria130. 

Slovenia was one of the first EU countries to make GPP 
mandatory.  The  national  GPP  action  plan’s  target  was 
that  50 %  of  awarded  contracts  should  incorporate 
green  public  procurement  by  2012.  Eight  product 

129 Ministry of Finance, Environmental taxes, 2018. 
130 In the Communication ‘Public procurement for a better 
environment’ (COM (2008) 400) the Commission recommended the 
creation of a process for setting common GPP criteria. The basic 
concept of GPP relies on having clear, verifiable, justifiable and 
ambitious environmental criteria for products and services, based on a 
life-cycle approach and scientific evidence base. 

Slovenia  has  eight  pollution  and  resources  taxes  in 
place. These taxes are on:  

128 Eurostat, Environmental tax revenues, 2017. 

24 

 
 
 
                                                                 
                                                                 
Environmental Implementation Review 2019: Slovenia 

in  the  GPP  target:  paper, 
categories  are  included 
electricity,  office  equipment,  furniture,  transport,  food 
and  catering,  construction,  cleaning  products  and 
services.  

A  European  Parliament  study  shows  that  Slovenia’s 
previous  national  GPP  action  plan131  was  partly 
implemented.  However,  Slovenia  currently  has  no 
national GPP action plan132 in place, as the 2009 plan is 
no longer valid. 

In  January  2018,  a  new  GPP  decree  came  into  force  as 
part of the framework programme for the transition to 
a green economy. This decree extended  the number of 
product  and  service  categories  for  which  GPP 
is 
mandatory  to  20  (adding  for  example,  road  building, 
street  lighting  and  textiles).  It  defined  objectives  for 
each  product  or  service  (for  example  15 %  of  food 
should  be  organic,  50 %  of  office  paper  and  hygienic 
paper products should come from sustainably managed 
forests and at least 50 % of electricity should come from 
renewable  sources  or  high-efficiency  cogeneration)133. 
However, the decree does not include any sanctions for 
non-compliance. 

Guidelines  have  been  developed  for  different  product 
them 
categories 
implement  GPP  correctly.  These  guidelines  are  largely 
based on the EU GPP criteria. 

to  help  organisations  procuring 

Despite the GPP requirements, the uptake of GPP is still 
low.  In  2015,  the  contracting  authorities  attributed 
5 396  public  contracts  (or  9 305  lots)  at  an  amount  of 
almost  EUR 1.6  billion.  At  least  one  environmental 
requirement  was  included  in  1 528  lots,  accounting  for 
16 % of all lots tendered in 2015. The value of these lots 
was  EUR 276  million,  representing  17 %  of  the  total 
value of tenders134. There has been some improvement 
compared to 2013, when contracting authorities applied 
GPP requirements to only 11.7 % of contracts, or 8 % by 
value. 

Slovenian  authorities  organise  several  conferences  and 
workshops  each  year  to  help  with  the  implementation 
of  GPP  as  well  as  training  activities  for  procurers.  A 
helpdesk has also been set up and a related network of 
experts  for  certain  products/services  will  soon  be  in 
place to cooperate with the helpdesk. 

131 European Parliament, Green Public Procurement and the Action 
Plan for the Circular Economy, 2017, pp. 79-80. 
132 GPP national action plan is referred to in the 2003 Communication . 
MS were encouraged to draw up a national action plan by 2006 and 
then update it every three years. 
133 Slovenian Government, GPP Decree, 2018. 
134 Update on GPP development activities by members of GPP advisory 
group (October 2016). 

Slovenia  stands  out  as  one  of  the  few  Member  States 
with mandatory GPP requirements However, the actual 
uptake of GPP could be further improved. 

Environmental funding and investments 

European  Structural  and  Investment  Fund  (ESIF)  rules 
oblige  Member  States  to  promote  environment  and 
climate in their  funding strategies and programmes  for 
economic, 
rural 
development and maritime policy. 

territorial  cohesion, 

social  and 

Achieving  sustainability  involves  mobilising  public  and 
private  financing  sources135.  Use  of  the  European 
Structural and Investment Funds (ESIFs)136 is essential if 
countries  are  to  achieve  their  environmental  goals  and 
into  other  policy  areas.  Other 
integrate 
instruments 
LIFE 
such  as  Horizon  2020, 
programme137  and  the  European  Fund  for  Strategic 
(EFSI)138  may 
Investments 
the 
implementation and spread of good practices. 

support 

these 

also 

the 

European Structural and Investment Funds 2014-2020 

that  with 

Through  its  national  Operational  Programme,  Slovenia 
has been allocated EUR 3.87 billion from ESIF funds for 
its  national 
2014-2020.  This  means 
contribution  of  EUR 1.02  billion,  Slovenia  has  a  total 
budget of EUR 4.9 billion to invest in the country within 
the  ESIF  framework139.  Areas  of  investment  include 
innovation  and  business  competitiveness,  support  for 
SMEs,  support  for  agriculture  and  fishery  holdings,  the 
low-carbon 
environment, 
sustainable employment, social inclusion, education and 
public administration. 

transport, 

economy, 

Cohesion policy 

Slovenia  receives  around  over  EUR 3billion  in  cohesion 
policy  funding  for  2014-2020,  including  EUR 64  million 
for  European  Territorial  Cooperation  and  EUR 718.8 
million from the European Social Fund. The country has 
one  Operational  Programme  covering  two  regions:  the 
less  developed  region  of  Eastern  Slovenia  (Vzhodna 
Slovenija)  and  the  more  developed  region  of  Western 
Slovenia  (Zahodna  Slovenija).  In  the  current  period, 
there  is  a  clear  shift  from  infrastructure-based  support 

135 See, for example, Action plan on financing sustainable growth 
(COM(2018) 97).  
136 i.e. the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), the Cohesion 
Fund (CF), the European Social Fund (ESF), the European Agricultural 
Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD) and the European Maritime and 
Fisheries Fund (EMFF). The ERDF, the CF and the ESF are referred to as 
the ‘cohesion policy funds’. 
137 European Commission, LIFE programme. 
138 European Investment Bank, European Fund for Strategic 
Investments, 2016. 
139 European Commission, European Structural and Investment Funds 
(Country factsheet Slovenia), 2016. 

25 

                                                                 
                                                                 
Environmental Implementation Review 2019: Slovenia 

to  more 
investments140. 

innovation  and  entrepreneurship-oriented 

EU funds are a key asset for protecting the environment 
in EU Member States141. 

to  protecting 

Of  Slovenia’s  cohesion  policy  budget,  over  EUR 570 
million  have  been  allocated 
the 
environment  and  using  resources  efficiently  and 
sustainably.  This  amount  includes  recent  additional  re-
allocations to this sector. It accounts for around 18.7 % 
of  Slovenia’s  overall  cohesion  policy  budget,  above  the 
EU average of around 11 %142. 

Slovenia’s key priority is its water sector. This has been 
allocated  around  EUR 300  million  (EUR 161  million  for 
urban  wastewater  treatment,  EUR 125  million  for 
drinking  water  and  EUR 14  million  for  other  water 
measures).  The  second  highest  allocation  of  EUR 90 
million is for climate change adaptation, specifically for 
flood  protection  measures.  EUR 47  million  goes  to 
efficient  land  use  in  urban  areas  (including  funding  for 
the  renovation  of  buildings  in  degraded  urban  areas), 
followed by EUR 44 million to protect Natura 2000 areas 
and  biodiversity.  A  further  EUR 41  million  has  been 
allocated to protect, develop and promote cultural and 
natural  heritage.  Air  quality  measures  receive  EUR 39 
million. 
support 
EUR 8  million 
environmentally-friendly  production  processes  and 
resource efficiency in SMEs143. 

Finally, 

to 

is 

The  Ljubljana  wastewater  collection  and  treatment 
project  is  one  of  the  biggest  environmental  projects 
supported  by  the  cohesion  policy.  Thanks  to  this 
project,  over  20 000  more  of  the  city’s  inhabitants  will 
be  connected  to  the  sewerage  and  wastewater 
treatment  system  and  the 
level  of  treatment  will 
improve. These results will help bring Slovenia closer to 
the  requirements  of  the  Urban  Wastewater  Treatment 
Directive144. 
EU funds for 2007-2013 were entirely spent 145. 

140 Open Data Portal for the ESIF.  
141 ‘The objectives of the ESI Funds shall be pursued in line with the 
principle of sustainable development and with the Union’s promotion 
of the aim of preserving, protecting and improving the quality of the 
environment, as set out in Article 11 and Article 191(1) TFEU, taking 
into account the polluter pays principle’ Article 8, Reg. (EU) No 
1303/2013. 
142 European Commission, Mainstreaming the environment in 
cohesion policy in 2014-2020: Report of the European Network of 
Environmental Authorities — Managing Authorities (ENEA-MA) 
working group, 2016. 
143 Operational Programme for the Implementation of EU Cohesion 
Policy in the period 2014-2020 in Slovenia, 2018. 
144 COWI-MILIEU 2017 Study on the integration of environmental 
concerns in the Cohesion Policy funds (ERDF, ESF, CF), p. 246. 
145 European Commission, Cohesion Policy — Supporting Growth and 
jobs in Slovenia (2007-2013), 2016; and European Commission, SF 
2007-2013 Funds Absorption Rate, 2018. 

Rural development 

Slovenia’s  Rural  Development  Programme  (RDP)  sets 
out  the  country  priorities  for  using  the  EUR 1.1  billion 
available  for  2014-2020.  This  funding  includes  EUR 838 
million  from  the  European  Agricultural  Fund  for  Rural 
Development (EAFRD)146. 

improving  agriculture  and 

The  RDP  has  three  priorities.  The  first  is  to  restore, 
forestry 
preserve  and 
ecosystems  (roughly one third of Slovenian farmland is 
covered  by  funded  contracts  to  improve  biodiversity 
and  water  and  soil  management).  The  second  is  to 
increase  the  competitiveness  of  the  agri-sector  and 
sustainable forestry (2.9 % of farms receive support for 
economic and environmental investments, including for 
greater  resource  efficiency).  The  third  priority  is  to 
increase social inclusion and local development in rural 
areas  —  66 %  of  the  population  should  be  covered  by 
local  development  strategies.  Nearly  420 
jobs  are 
expected to be created as a result of the programme. 

One of the EAFRD-RDP projects entitled ‘Let’s clean the 
water’,  implemented  within  the  LEADER147  framework, 
targeted the population of two hill-top municipalities — 
Škofja  Loka  and  Gorenja  Vas.  The  project  raised  the 
awareness of the local population about the possibilities 
for and requirements of constructing small wastewater 
treatment  plants  for  up  to  50  p.e.  in  this  challenging 
location and encouraged the construction of plants148. 

integrating  environmental  concerns 

On 
the 
common  agricultural  policy  (CAP),  the  two  key  areas 
are: (i) to use the EAFRD to pay for environmental land 
management  and  other  environmental  measures;  and 
(ii)  to  ensure  that  the  first  pillar  of  the  CAP  was 

into 

146 European Commission, Factsheet on 2014-2020 Rural Development 
Programme for Slovenia. 
147 LEADER is a local development method which has been used for 20 
years to engage local actors in the design and delivery of strategies, 
decision-making and resource allocation for the development of their 
rural areas. In the rural development context, LEADER is implemented 
under the national and regional RDPs. 
148 European Network for Rural Development, Projects Brochure, The 
European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development, Resource Efficient 
Rural Economies, 2018. 

26 

                                                                 
 
                                                                 
Environmental Implementation Review 2019: Slovenia 

implemented  effectively  for  cross-compliance  and  first 
pillar  ‘greening’.  The  direct  payment  allocation  for 
Slovenia for 2015-2020 is EUR 680 million. Of this, 30 % 
will  go  towards  greening  practices  that  benefit  the 
environment149. 

European Maritime and Fisheries Fund 

Slovenia  receives  around  EUR 32.6  million 
financing 
including an EU contribution of EUR 24.8 million150. 

in  co-
fisheries  and  the  maritime  sector, 

for 

financing  projects 

This  helps 
the 
environment  in  sustainable  fisheries  (Priority  1  of  the 
Operational  Programme)  and  sustainable  aquaculture 
(Priority  2)151.  Around  36 %  or  EUR 9  million152  of  the 
funding goes towards environmental projects.  

that  benefit 

The Connecting Europe Facility 

The Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) is a key EU funding 
instrument  developed  specifically  to  direct  investment 
into 
digital 
infrastructures.  It  aims  to  address  identified  missing 
links and bottlenecks and promote sustainability. 

transport, 

European 

energy 

and 

By the end of 2017, Slovenia had signed agreements for 
EUR 209  million  for  projects  under  the  CEF153.  For 
transport funding under the CEF, the rail sector received 
the  biggest  contribution  (for  the  second  ‘Divača-Koper’ 
track), followed by roads and maritime transport154. 

For  energy,  the  CEF  finances  a  number  of  ‘TEN-E’ 
projects  of  common  interest155.  This  includes  a  EUR 40 
million CEF grant for a smart grids project that improves 
the links between Slovenia and Croatia’s electricity grids 
and  increases  the  use  of  renewable  energy  in  the 
region156. 

Horizon 2020 

Slovenia has benefited from Horizon 2020 funding since 
the programme started in 2014. As of January 2019, 302 
beneficiaries received EUR 84.1 million for projects from 
the  Societal  Challenges  work  programmes  dealing  with 
environmental issues157 158.  

149 Regulation (EU) 1307/2013. 
150 European Commission, European Maritime and Fisheries Fund, 
Slovenia, 2015. 
151 Operativni Program ESPR, 2014. 
152 European Commission, European Maritime and Fisheries Fund, 
Slovenia, 2015. 
153 European Commission, European Semester Country Report for 
Slovenia, 2018, p. 14. 
154 European Commission, Connecting Europe Facility — Transport 
grants 2014-2017, Slovenia, 2018. 
155 European Commission, Projects of Common Interest.  
156 European Commission, https://ec.europa.eu/inea/en/news-
events/newsroom/%E2 %82 %AC40-million-cef-funding-to-connect-
slovenian-and-croatian-electricity-grids. 
157 European Commission own calculations based on CORDA 
(COmmon Research DAta Warehouse). A maximum grant amount is 

27 

In  addition  to  the  abovementioned  work  programmes, 
climate  and  biodiversity  expenditure  is  present  across 
the entire Horizon 2020. In  Slovenia, projects accepted 
for  funding  in  all  Horizon  2020  working  programmes 
until  December  2018  included  EUR  87  million  destined 
to  climate  action  (40.2 %  of  the  total  Horizon  2020 
contribution  to  Slovenia)  and  EUR  7  million  for 
biodiversity-related  actions  (3.3 %  of  the  Horizon  2020 
contribution to Slovenia)159. 

LIFE programme 

Since  its  launch  in  1992,  the  LIFE  programme  has  co-
financed 42 projects in Slovenia at a total investment of 
EUR 66  million,  of  which  the  EU  provided  EUR 36 
million160.  

Of the projects co-financed to date, 22 have focused on 
nature  conservation,  10  on  environmental  innovation, 
four on information and communication and two on the 
former LIFE third countries strand. 22 projects received 
support  from  LIFE’s  nature  and  biodiversity  strand. 
These  projects  mostly  dealt  with  conservation, 
restoration  and/or  protection  of  habitats 
(e.g. 
freshwater  wetlands  or  peat  bogs)  and  species  (e.g. 
Slovenian  brown  bears  or  nocturnal  animals  such  as 
moths  and  bats).  Some  projects  were  to  support 
administrative  capacity  and  planning  (e.g.  preparing 
Slovenia’s 
2000  management 
programme)161. 

2014-2020 Natura 

In  the  period  2014  –  2017,  the  EU  has  allocated  about 
EUR 21  million  to  13  Slovenian  projects  (12  traditional 
and 1 capacity building project). Slovenia is doing well in 
terms of the LIFE programme support and it significantly 
exceeded its national allocation for this period162.  

European Investment Bank 

In 2013-2017, European Investment Bank (EIB) financing 
in  Slovenia  totalled  nearly  EUR 1.6  billion.  This  support 
was  mainly  to  provide  credit  lines  for  businesses  and 
transport. No loans were given directly to environment-
related projects, except for a limited amount of funding 
for energy efficiency and renewable energy163. 

the maximum grant amount decided by the Commission. It normally 
corresponds to the requested grant, but it may be lower. 
158 i.e. (ii) Food security, sustainable agriculture and forestry, marine 
and maritime and inland water research and the bioeconomy; (iii) 
Secure, clean and efficient energy; (iv) Smart, green and integrated 
transport; and (v) Climate action, environment, resource efficiency 
and raw materials. 
159 European Commission own calculations based on CORDA 
(COmmon Research DAta Warehouse). 
160 European Commission, LIFE by country: Slovenia. 
161 European Commission, LIFE in Slovenia, 2016. 
162 Commission services based on data provided by EASME. 
163European Investment Bank, Financed projects. 

                                                                 
 
                                                                                                      
Environmental Implementation Review 2019: Slovenia 

In 2018 alone, the EIB Group (the European Investment 
Bank  and  the  European  Investment  Fund)164  loaned 
Slovenian  businesses  and  public  institutions  EUR 63.5 
million,  as  shown  in  Figure  21.  Of  this,  EUR 5.5  million 
(9 %) went to environmental projects. 
Figure 21: EIB loans to Slovenia in 2018165 

financial gaps in areas such as circular  economy, water 
management,  green  infrastructure,  biodiversity  or  air 
pollution are delaying the correct implementation of EU 
environmental  law  and  policies.  Therefore,  ensuring 
financial  resources  to  reduce  the  implementation  gap 
should be considered as a priority for the country. 

2019 priority action 

sustainable  water  management, 

  Mobilise investment, including through EU funds, to 
promote 
in 
particular the wastewater sector; support a circular 
economy;  protect  biodiversity  and  develop  green 
infrastructure; and reduce air pollution. 

European Fund for Strategic Investments 

The  European  Fund  for  Strategic  Investments  (EFSI) 
helps bridge the current investment gap in the EU. As of 
January 2019, the EFSI had mobilised EUR 161 million in 
Slovenia.  This  is  expected  to  trigger  EUR 927  million  in 
additional investment166. 

Slovenia participates in two approved initiatives  — one 
to  support  the  transport  sector  and  one  to  support 
SMEs.  The  SME  project  is  expected  to  trigger  EUR 620 
million  in  secondary  investments  which  will  benefit 
1 700 smaller companies or start-ups167. 

National environmental financing 

(the 

allocated 

annual 
spending 

Slovenia  spent  EUR 226.1  million  on  environmental 
protection in 2016, a decrease of 42 % from 2015168. Of 
these  payments,  19 %  were  for  waste  management 
average  percentage  of 
activities 
environmental 
to  waste 
management in the EU is 49.7 %). EUR 83.1 million was 
for  wastewater  management  (37 %  of  the  total)  and 
EUR 23.4 million was for reducing pollution (10 % of the 
total).  11 %  of  environmental  expenditure  was  to 
(EUR 25.8 
protect  biodiversity  and  the 
million).  Between  2012  and  2016, 
the  general 
government  funding  for  environmental  protection  was 
EUR 1.5 billion169. 

landscape 

As  it  has  been  mentioned  in  the  report,  one  of  the 
challenges for Slovenia is to ensure that environmental 
level.  Existent 
financing  remains  at  an  adequate 

164 EIB, Slovenia and the EIB, 2018. 
165 EIB, Slovenia and the EIB, 2018. 
166 European Investment Bank, EFSI project map. 
167 European Commission, Investment Plan for Europe, Country 
Factsheet: Slovenia, 2018. 
168 Eurostat, General Government Expenditure by function, 2018. 
169 Eurostat, General Government Expenditure by function, 2018. 

28 

 
                                                                 
 
 
Environmental Implementation Review 2019: Slovenia 

5. Strengthening environmental governance 

Information, public participation and access to 
justice 

Citizens  can  more  effectively  protect  the  environment  if 
they  can  rely  on  the  three  ‘pillars’  of  the  Aarhus 
Convention:  
(i) access to information;  
(ii) public participation in decision making; and  
(iii) access to justice in environmental matters.  

It is of crucial importance to public authorities, the public 
and  business  that  environmental  information  is  shared 
efficiently  and  effectively170.  Public  participation  allows 
authorities  to  make  decisions  that  take  public  concerns 
into account. Access to justice is a set of guarantees that 
allows  citizens  and  NGOs  to  use  national  courts  to 
protect the environment171. It includes the right to bring 
legal challenges (‘legal standing’)172. 

Environmental information 

the  environment 

In  Slovenia,  environmental  data 
is  centralised  at 
government  level.  The  Ministry  of  the  Environment  and 
Spatial Planning and Waters, its Executive Environmental 
Agency and its Water Agency each host a web portal with 
such  information.  The  content  is  mostly  about  the  state 
of 
the  country  and  about 
environmental  legislation,  including  some  references  to 
the  specific  EU  legislation.  These  sites  hold  most  of  the 
legal information and reports. They also provide links to 
other  relevant  sites.  All  sites  have  some  information 
available in English in addition to Slovenian, although the 
English  content  is  substantially  less  than  the  Slovenian 
content. 

in 

Slovenia’s implementation of the INSPIRE Directive leaves 
room  for  improvement.  The  accessibility  of  spatial  data 
through ‘view and download’ services is poor. The review 
of  the  country’s  performance  is  based  on  its  2016 
implementation report173 and its most recent monitoring 

170 The Aarhus Convention, the Access to Environmental Information 
Directive, 2003/4/EC and the INSPIRE Directive, 2007/2 together create 
a legal foundation for the sharing of environmental information 
between public authorities and with the public. This EIR focuses on 
INSPIRE. 
171 The guarantees are explained in Commission Notice on access to 
justice in environmental matters, OJL 275, 18.8.2017 and a related 
Citizen's Guide. 
172 This EIR looks at how well Member States explain access to justice 
rights to the public, and at legal standing and other major barriers to 
bringing cases on nature and air pollution. 
173 INSPIRE SI country sheet 2017. 

data  from  2017174.  Slovenia  has  made  good  progress  in 
data 
it 
identification  and  documentation.  However, 
needs  to  make  a  greater  effort  to  make  the  data 
accessible through services, to improve the conditions for 
data reuse and to prioritise environmental datasets in the 
implementation  of 
In 
particular,  it  needs  to  prioritise  datasets  identified  as 
high-value spatial data sets175. 

environmental 

legislation. 

Figure  22:  Access  to  spatial  data  through  view  and 
download services in Slovenia (2017)  

Public participation 

in  many 

integrated 

in  particular, 

In  Slovenia,  public  participation  provisions  for  the 
laws  and 
environment  are 
regulations176.  These 
the 
include, 
Environment Protection Act with several decrees, the law 
that  ratifies  the  Convention  on  environmental  impact 
assessment  in  a  transboundary  context,  the  Aarhus 
Convention, the access to public information act, the act 
on general administrative procedures and other sectoral 
laws.  The  2017  report  on  the  implementation  of  the 
Aarhus  Convention177  notes 
the  applicable 
construction  legislation  (as  opposed  to  environmental 
include  the  Aarhus  Convention 
legislation)  did  not 
requirements when obtaining building permits. It further 
notes  that  there  was  not  enough  transparency  in  or 
public  dialogue  on  building  design  decisions.  However, 
the  report  acknowledges  that  there  are  plans  to  amend 
this legislation to bring it in line with the Convention. 

that 

174 INSPIRE monitoring dashboard. 
175 List of high value spatial data sets. 
176 Directive 2003/35/EC. 
177 UNECE, 2017 National implementation reports by Parties, page 26. 

29 

 
 
 
                                                                 
 
                                                                 
Environmental Implementation Review 2019: Slovenia 

extent to which general legal acts are constitutional and 
legal.  On  the  interpretation  of  the  legal  interest,  the 
constitutional  court  expressed  its  position  in  2007  as 
follows: ‘one has no legal interest if a regulation does not 
affect  the  status  of  the  plaintiff  directly’.  In  such  cases, 
legal interest can be shown only when all other remedies 
have  been  used 
(Decision  U-I-276/07).  Therefore, 
contesting  the  non-constitutional  nature  of  a  regulation 
is  the  first  step  in  a  procedure  against  an  individual 
decision.  This  also  applies  to  a 
interest  of 
environmental NGOs. 

legal 

The costs of administrative court procedure are set out in 
the Administrative Fees Act and judicial fees are set  out 
in  the  Court  Fees  Act.  Fees  are  usually  around  EUR 100, 
but if the procedure before the court includes a claim for 
compensation, then the fees  correlate to the amount  of 
the requested compensation. The principle of ‘loser pays’ 
applies  in  judicial  actions.  In  administrative  procedures 
and  for  the  administrative  court,  country  and  district 
courts  and  higher  courts,  legal  representation  is  not 
legal 
Supreme 
mandatory. 
representation by a lawyer is mandatory. 

Before 

Court 

the 

2019 priority actions 

 

 

Improve  access  to  spatial  data  and  services  by 
making  stronger 
linkages  between  the  country 
INSPIRE  portals  ,  identify  and  document  all  spatial 
datasets  required  to  implement  environmental  law, 
and  make  the  data  and  documentation  at  least 
accessible  'as  is'  to  other  public  authorities  and  the 
public  through  the  digital  services  envisaged  in  the 
INSPIRE Directive. 
Improve  the  legal  framework  and/or  the  practical 
application  access  to  information  to  facilitate  public 
participation  across  the 
implementation  of  EU 
legislation  with  impact  on  the  environment  in  line 
with the Aarhus Convention.  

in 

to 

the  public 

to  participate 

In 2008, the Ministry of Environment and Spatial Planning 
instruction  that  the  public  should 
issued  a  special 
participate 
in  decision  making  on  environmental 
regulations178. Consequently, draft regulations along with 
their 
invitations 
preparation,  are  published  on  the  Ministry  of  the 
Environment  and  Spatial  Planning’s  website179.  The 
website publishes the comments and opinions submitted 
by  the  general  public  as  well  as  information  on  the 
government’s position on draft regulations. 
The  Eurobarometer  figures  from  2017180  show  that 
people  in  Slovenia  agree  strongly  (85 %  of  respondents) 
that  an  individual  can  play  a  role  in  protecting  the 
environment. This is a slight decrease since 2014. 

Access to justice 

Slovenia needs to make significant progress in informing 
the general public and environmental associations about 
how  they  can  have  access  to  justice  in  environmental 
matters  under  national  and  EU  law.  To  this  end,  the 
public  authorities  should  ensure  that  structured  and 
user-friendly information is available on line. 

A  complainant  in  an  administrative  dispute  is  a  person 
who is a party or an accessory participant in a procedure 
for issuing of an administrative act.  The  same applies to 
environmental NGOs with a  special status  as association 
acting in public interest in environmental protection.  

The  standing  for  individuals  in  Slovenia’s  administrative 
procedure  is  narrowly  defined  as  follows:  ‘natural  and 
legal  persons  whose  rights,  obligations  or  legal  interests 
may  be  affected  by  the  administrative  decision’.  This 
means  that  only  these  natural  or  legal  persons  can 
initiate  the  procedure  and  influence  its  course.  The 
judicial  review  may  be  started  by  the  same  parties  as 
those 
procedure. 
Environmental NGOs with the status to act in the public 
interest  have  a  standing  position 
in  environmental 
matters based on the Environmental Protection Act, the 
Nature  Conservation  Act,  the  environmental 
impact 
assessment  and  integrated  pollution  prevention  and 
control (IPPC) permit procedures. 

administrative 

starting 

an 

Problems  in  implementing  Article 9.3.  of  the  Aarhus 
Convention arise because of the restrictive interpretation 
of a legal interest, which is a prerequisite for launching a 
procedure. 
and  environmental  NGOs 
complain  particularly  about  their  difficulty  in  gaining 
access  to  the  constitutional  court,  which  reviews  the 

Individuals 

178 Ministry of the Environment and Spatial Planning, Navodilo o 
postopku sodelovanje javnosti pri sprejemanju predpisov.  
179 Ministry of the Environment and Spatial Planning, Predpisi in 
Dokumenti v Pripravi - Okoljski Predpisi. 
180 European Commission, Special 468 Eurobarometer, ‘Attitudes of 
European citizens towards the environment’, 2017. 

30 

                                                                 
Environmental Implementation Review 2019: Slovenia 

Compliance assurance 

to  ensure 

Environmental compliance assurance covers all the work 
that 
undertaken  by  public  authorities 
industries,  farmers  and  others  fulfil  their  obligations  to 
protect  water,  air  and  nature,  and  manage  waste181.  It 
includes  support  measures  provided  by  the  authorities, 
such as:  
(i) compliance promotion182;  
(ii) inspections and other checks that they carry out, i.e. 
compliance monitoring183; and  
(iii)  the  steps  that  they  take  to  stop  breaches,  impose 
sanctions  and  require  damage  to  be  remedied,  i.e. 
enforcement184.  
Citizen  science  and  complaints  enable  authorities  to 
liability185 
focus  their  efforts  better.  Environmental 
ensures that the polluter pays to remedy any damage. 

Compliance promotion and monitoring 

In Slovenia, there is no website providing information to 
businesses  and  farmers  on  how  to  comply  with  their 
environmental obligations. The provision and the quality 
of  such  information  in  Member  States  is  an  indicator  of 
how  actively  authorities  promote  compliance  in  areas 
with serious implementation gaps. 

industrial 

Major 
installations  can  present  a  serious 
pollution  risk.  Public  authorities  must  have  plans  to 
inspect  these  installations  and  must  make  individual 
inspection  reports  available  to  the  public186.  In  Slovenia, 
there is a specific website on the IED187, which is available 
to  the  general  public  and  to  operators  of  installations 
who  are  obliged  by  the  IED  to  get  an  environmental 
permit.  The  website  includes  information  on  operators 
and  environmental  permits,  reference  documents,  BAT 
conclusions and relevant notifications. Inspection reports 
are  published  on  the  Inspectorate  of  the  Republic  of 
Slovenia for Environment and Spatial Planning’s website. 
The  reports  include  major  findings  and  conclusions  on 
whether  further  action  is  necessary188.  Inspections  of 
industrial  installations  are  based  on  risk  assessment189 
using  methodology  developed  by  European  Union 
Network  for  the  Implementation  and  Enforcement  of 

181 The concept is explained in detail in COM(2018) 10 and SWD(2018) 
10. 
182 This EIR focuses on the help given to farmers to comply with nature 
and nitrates legislation. 
183 This EIR focuses on inspections of major industrial installations. 
184This EIR focuses on the availability of enforcement data and co-
ordination between authorities to tackle environmental crime. 
185 Directive 2004/35/CE, creates the framework. 
186 Article 23, Directive 2010/75/EU. 
187 ARSO. 
188Ministry of the Environment and Spatial Planning, IED Poročila. 
189 IRSOP, Work plan, March 2018, p. 41.  

Environmental  Law  (IMPEL)  in  whose  activities  Slovenia 
actively participates. 

Citizen science and complaint handling 

Engaging  the  general  public  through  citizen  science  can 
increase knowledge about the environment and help the 
authorities in their work. In Slovenia, there is no specific 
online information on citizens’ engagement. 

The availability of clear online information about how to 
make  a  complaint  is  an  indicator  of  how  responsive 
authorities  are  to  complaints  from  the  public.  The 
Inspectorate of the Republic of Slovenia for Environment 
and Spatial Planning (‘the Inspectorate’) provides general 
its  website190  on  how  to  submit 
information  on 
complaints  about  environmental  violations  and  about 
alleged  maladministration 
competent 
authorities191.  Such  complaints  can  be  submitted 
anonymously.  The  Inspectorate192  publishes  an  annual 
report  on  the  complaints  received  and  their  resolution, 
including any follow-up actions. 

the 

by 

Enforcement 

When  monitoring 
identifies  problems,  a  range  of 
responses may be appropriate. The Inspectorate’s annual 
activity  reports  include  proposed  follow-up  measures  to 
detected  instances  of  non-compliance  in  its  area  of 
responsibility193.  However,  there 
information 
available  on  the  sanctions  applied  or  on  whether 
compliance  has  been  reached  after  the  follow-up 
measures  and  enforcement  action  have  been  taken. 
Information  on  responses  to  cross-compliance  breaches 
on nitrates and nature is also not publicly available. 

is  no 

is  especially  challenging. 

Tackling  waste,  wildlife  crimes  and  other  environmental 
offences 
It  requires  close 
cooperation  between  inspectors,  customs  authorities, 
police and prosecutors. The Inspectorate’s annual activity 
reports mention ongoing cooperation with other relevant 
authorities194.  However,  there  is  no  publicly  available 
information 
coordination 
cooperation 
mechanisms for tackling different types of environmental 
crime. 

and 

on 

190Ministry of the Environment and Spatial Planning, Delovna Področja. 
191 Ministry of the Environment and Spatial Planning, Delovna Področja. 
192 Ministry of the Environment and Spatial Planning, Poročilo o Delu  
 za Leto 2016. 
193Ministry of the Environment and Spatial Planning, Poročila o Delu in 
Letni Načrti Dela. 
194 Ministry of the Environment and Spatial Planning, Poročila o Delu in 
Letni Načrti Dela. 

31 

                                                                 
                                                                 
Environmental Implementation Review 2019: Slovenia 

Environmental liability 

The  Environmental  Liability  Directive  (ELD)  establishes  a 
framework  based  on  the  ‘polluter  pays’  principle  to 
prevent  and  remedy  environmental  damage.  The  2017 
EIR 
information  on 
environmental  damage,  on  financial  security  and  on 
establishing  guidance.  The  Commission  is  still  collecting 
evidence on the progress made. 

focused  on  gathering  better 

2019 priority actions 

  Better 

inform 

the  public  about 

compliance 
promotion,  monitoring  and  enforcement.  At  a 
minimum,  this  should  involve  ensuring  information 
to  farmers  on  how  to  comply  with  obligations  on 
nitrates  and  nature. 
In  addition,  more  online 
information should be provided on inspection plans, 
industrial 
inspections  and  on  the  follow  up  to 
detected cross-compliance breaches on nitrates and 
nature. 
Ensure  more 
dealing with environmental crime work together. 
Improve  financial  security  for  liabilities  and  ELD-
guidance  and  publish  information  on  environmental 
damage. 

information  on  how  professionals 

 

 

Effectiveness of environmental 
administrations 

in 

involved 

implementing 

Those 
environmental 
legislation at EU, national, regional and local levels need 
to have the knowledge, tools and capacity to ensure that 
the  legislation  and  the  governance  of  the  enforcement 
process bring about the intended benefits. 

Administrative capacity and quality 

Central, regional and local administrations must have the 
ability  to  carry  out  their  own  tasks  and  work  effectively 
with  each  other  within  a  system  of  multi-level 
governance. 

The  2017  European  Quality  of  Government  Index  gives 
Slovenia a ranking of xxx (EU28 = 0)195. 

ensure 

effective 

environmental 

To 
governance, 
environmental  authorities  must  have  staff  with  the 
appropriate administrative and technical knowledge and 
skills. Along with the 2017 EIR, the Commission launched 
the  TAIEX-EIR  Peer  to  Peer  (P2P)  initiative  to  encourage 
learning  between  experts  from  environmental 
peer 
authorities in different Member States. 

2018.  During  the  workshop,  experts  from  Finland,  the 
Netherlands  and  Slovenia  shared  their  experience  and 
advice  with  participants  from  the  governments  of 
Hungary, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Poland on how 
to prepare a national circular economy action plan. 

Slovenian experts also participated in a reciprocal TAIEX-
EIR  P2P  study  visit  on  waste  management  with 
Portuguese  experts  in  September  2018.  The  visits  took 
place  in  the  Evora  region  in  Portugal  and  in  Ljubljana, 
Slovenia. The aim was to give the experts from the Evora 
region the opportunity to learn from the best practices of 
Ljubljana  and  get  first-hand  expert  advice  on  waste 
management. 

from 

competent 

cooperation 

Finally,  experts 
authority 
the 
responsible  for  overseeing  the  EU  Timber  Regulation 
(EUTR)  participated  in  a  TAIEX-EIR  P2P  workshop  to 
competent 
strengthen 
authorities  from  eight  Mediterranean  EU  countries.  The 
aim  was  to  improve  and  harmonise  the  implementation 
of  the  EUTR  in  the  Mediterranean  region.  Experts  from 
the  Netherlands  and  Denmark  shared  their  experiences 
from  the  Nordic-Baltic  network  of  EUTR  competent 
authorities. 

among 

the 

Coordination and integration 

The  transposition  of  the  revised  environmental  impact 
assessment (EIA) Directive196 provides an opportunity for 
countries  to  streamline  their  regulatory  framework  on 
environmental  assessments.  Despite  not  meeting  the 
transposition  deadline  of  May  2017,  Slovenia  has 
transposed the revised Directive.  

The  Commission  encourages  the  streamlining  of  the 
environmental  assessments  to  reduce  duplication  and 
avoid  overlaps 
for 
projects.  Streamlining  helps  to  reduce  unnecessary 
It  also  accelerates  decision 
administrative  burden. 
making  without  compromising  the  quality  of  the 
environmental assessment procedure197. 

in  environmental  assessments 

In transposing the revised EIA Directive, Slovenia further 
streamlined  its  environmental  assessments.  The  new 
legislation (the Spatial Planning Act and the Construction 
Act), adopted in October and November 2017, integrate 
various  assessments  and  permitting  procedures.  They 
provide  for  joint  assessments  under  the  EIA  Directive, 
appropriate assessment under the Habitats Directive and 
the  Water  Framework  Directive  and  coordinated 

An expert from the Slovenian government participated in 
a  TAIEX-EIR  P2P  workshop  in  Budapest  on  17-18 May 

195 European Commission, The 7th Report on Economic, Social and 
Territorial Cohesion, 2017, p. 140. 

196 Directive 2014/52/EU. 
197 The Commission issued a guidance document in 2016 regarding the 
setting up of coordinated and/or joint procedures that are 
simultaneously subject to assessments under the EIA Directive, Habitats 
Directive, Water Framework Directive, and the Industrial Emissions 
Directive, OJ C 273, 27.7.2016, p. 1. 

32 

                                                                 
                                                                 
Environmental Implementation Review 2019: Slovenia 

assessments  under  the  EIA  Directive  and  the  Industrial 
Emissions Directive. 

of faster disbursement of EU funds, and as a result of an 
electoral cycle effect200.  

Following  the  adoption  of  the  Spatial  Planning  Act  and 
the  Construction  Act,  a  new  Environmental  Protection 
Act  should  be  adopted  in  spring  2019.  An  amended 
Nature Conservation Act is also expected to be adopted. 
The  adoption  of  these  acts  will  conclude  the  round  of 
legislative reforms in this area that started in 2013, partly 
because  of  the  Commission’s  infringement  procedures. 
The adoption of these acts are also in line with the 2017 
EIR’s suggested  action  to  ensure  that  EU  environmental 
legislation 
in  the  national  permitting 
system’s  reform  which  aims  to  remove  unnecessary 
administrative  burden  and  streamline  procedures. 
Whereas 
streamlining 
environmental assessments is recognised, the conformity 
check should provide further evidence on compliance. 

is  respected 

Slovenia’s 

progress 

in 

Adaptability, 
(eGovernment) 

reform 

dynamics 

and 

innovation 

Slovenian public authorities are increasingly adopting and 
using  electronic  services  that  enable  them  to  interact 
with  the  public  online.  The  country  performance  was  in 
line  with  the  EU  average  in  2018.  For  Digital  Public 
Services,  the  country  has  a  score  of  0.57/1  based  on 
Europe's  Digital  Progress  Report  2018,  EU28  average 
being 0.57/1198. The situation has considerably improved 
since the year 2016, mainly in terms of open data. 

The  Ministry  of  Public  Administration  has  taken  a  clear 
lead  in  coordinating  digital  public  services  in  Slovenia. 
This  Ministry  is  responsible  for  telecom  regulation,  e-
Government,  access  to  public  sector  data,  data  policy, 
network security and e-IDAS regulation implementation. 

In the DESI Report 2018, Slovenia had a score of 58 out of 
100  on  digital  public  services,  in  line  with  the  EU 
average199.By  the  end  of  2017,  about  65  public 
institutions  had  opened  their  data  for  re-use  and  there 
are now 3 700 data sets available to the public across all 
governmental  departments.  The  Ministry  of  Public 
Administration is harvesting data sets from the Statistical 
Office and plans to also include data from sources such as 
the  Parliament,  the  Bank  of  Slovenia,  the  cadastre  and 
public utilities providers. 

Enabling financing and effective use of funds 

The  country  receives  significant  EU  support,  which  is 
mainly  devoted 
regional  development. 
Governmental investment is strengthening again because 

foster 

to 

198 European Commission, DESI country profile Slovenia, 2018, p. 9. 
199 European Commission, Digital Economy and Society Index Report 
2018, Digital Public Services. 

33 

2019 priority action 

 

can 

further 

overall 
Slovenia 
environmental  governance  (such  as  transparency, 
citizen  engagement,  compliance  and  enforcement, 
as well as administrative capacity and coordination). 

improve 

its 

International agreements 

The  EU  Treaties  require  the  EU  environmental  policy  to 
promote  measures  at  international  level  to  deal  with 
regional or worldwide environmental problems. 

The EU is committed to strengthening environmental law 
and its implementation globally. It therefore continues to 
support  the  Global  Pact  for  the  Environment  process, 
which  was  launched  by  the  United  Nations  General 
Assembly  in  May  2018201.  The  EIR  is  one  of  the  tools  to 
ensure  that  the  Member  States  set  a  good  example  by 
respecting  European  Union  environmental  policies  and 
laws and international agreements.  

Slovenia  has  signed  and  ratified  almost  all  multilateral 
environmental  agreements.  It  has  signed  the  Barcelona 
Convention’s Offshore Protocol and the Nagoya Protocol 
but has not yet ratified them. 

Forests:  EU  Timber  Regulation  (EUTR)202/  Forest  Law 
(FLEGT) 
Enforcement,  Governance 
Regulation203 

Trade 

and 

In accordance with the EUTR, which prohibits the placing 
illegally  harvested  timber, 
on  the  EU  market  of 
competent  authorities  in  all  EU  Member  States  must 
conduct  regular  checks  on  operators  and  traders,  and 
apply penalties in case of non-compliance. 

Between  March  2015  and  February  2017,  Slovenia 
carried  out  a  total  of  424  checks  on  operators  of 
domestic  timber  and  29  checks  on  operators  importing 
timber.  The  number  of  checks  should  be  linked  to  the 
estimated  number  of  operators  in  Slovenia  who  place 
timber  on  the  EU  market  for  the  first  time204.  Slovenia 
also carried out 60 checks on traders205. 

200 European Commission, European Semester Country Report 2018, pp. 
4, 5, 38. 
201 UN General Assembly Resolution 72/277 and Organizational session 
of the ad hoc open-ended working group.  
202 Regulation (EU) No 995/2010. 
203 Regulation (EC) No 2173/2005. 
204 Based on customs’ data, it was estimated that 460 Slovenian 
operators placed domestic timber on the EU market for the first time 
and 1 423 imported timber. 
205 Traders were checked by 19 countries, with numbers of checks 
ranging from 1 (Denmark, France, Luxembourg) to 747 (Cyprus). 12 out 
of 19 countries conducted between 1 and 65 checks. 

                                                                 
                                                                 
Environmental Implementation Review 2019: Slovenia 

Furthermore,  Slovenia  has  taken  various  enforcement 
measures against operators of both domestic timber and 
imported  timber  for  infringements  of  due  diligence, 
prohibition or traceability. Some of these operators have 
received fines206. 

Slovenia  did  not  specifically  report  on  its  cooperation 
obligation  under  Article 12  of  the  EUTR.  However, 
Slovenia has been involved in two networks: (i) a Central 
European  regional  network  that  also  includes  Austria, 
Hungary  and  Slovakia;  and  (ii)  the  EUTR  Mediterranean 
network.  Finally,  Slovenia  has  offered  to  train  delegates 
from other countries, for example by hosting a study visit 
for delegates from Serbia and Montenegro. 

Genetic  resources:  Nagoya  Protocol  on  Access  to 
Genetic Resources and the Fair and Equitable Sharing of 
Benefits Arising (ABS)207  

In  line  with  the  provisions  of  the  EU  ABS  Regulation, 
which  transposes  the  required  compliance  measures 
under  the  Nagoya  Protocol  into  EU  law,  Slovenia  has 
appointed competent authorities for genetic resources. It 
has  also  applied 
for 
infringements.  Slovenia  is  still  working  on  setting  up  a 
risk-based plan for checks. So far, it has not submitted a 
due  diligence  declaration  or  applied  any  penalties. 
Slovenia submitted its first ABS implementation report to 
the Commission at the end of 2017. 

the  Regulation’s 

sanctions 

International  wildlife 
the  Convention  on 
trade: 
International  Trade  in  Endangered  Species  of  Wild 
Fauna and Flora (CITES)208 

Slovenia has established relevant national authorities for 
the  international  wildlife  trade  and  regularly  processes 
requests for import, export, re-export, and intra-EU trade 
documents. 

National  reports  on  seizures  data  of  illegal  wildlife 
shipments  (in  particular  those  reported  annually  to  EU-
TWIX209  team  (TRAFFIC210)  under  its  contract  with  the 
Commission, and those exchanged through the EU-TWIX 
platform, show the activity of customs authorities. 

EU-TWIX  then  compiles,  cleans  and  adapts  the  data  to 
the  CITES  reporting  format  before  transmitting  them  to 
the  European  Commission,  which  submits  all  the  annual 

206 24 fines have been issued against operators of domestic timber and 
2 fines against importers of timber. 
207 Regulation (EU) No 511/2014. 
208 European Commission, The Convention on International Trade in 
Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). 
209 EU-TWIX (the European Union Trade in Wildlife Information 
exchange) is an internet tool to assist the EU in the fight against wildlife 
trade crime. 
210 TRAFFIC (Trade Records Analysis of Flora and Fauna in Commerce) is 
a leading non-governmental organisation working globally on trade in 
wild animals and plants in the context of both biodiversity conservation 
and sustainable development. 

illegal trade reports from the Member States to the CITES 
Secretariat. 

2019 priority action 

 

Increase  efforts  to  be  party  to  relevant  multilateral 
environmental  agreements,  by  signing  and  ratifying 
the remaining agreements. 

Sustainable 
implementation of the UN SDGs  

development 

and 

the 

implement  environmental 

Sustainable development links environmental, social and 
economic policies in a coherent framework and therefore 
helps  to 
legislation  and 
policies. 
The 2030 Slovenian Development Strategy211, adopted in 
2017, has started a medium-term planning process to set 
out how the priority tasks and measures are determined 
and  validated.  The  strategy  sets  out  five  orientations, 
which  also  include  a  well-preserved  healthy  natural 
environment,  and  twelve  interconnected  development 
goals. These include, among others, Goal 8 − Low-Carbon 
Circular  Economy  and  Goal  9  −  Sustainable  Natural 
Resource  Management.  Each  development  goal  has 
regularly  assessed  performance  indicators.  Performance 
indicators for Goal 8 are as follows: material productivity; 
share  of  renewable  energy 
final  energy 
consumption;  and  GDP  per  total  greenhouse  gas 
emissions;  and  for  Goal  9:  utilised  agricultural  area; 
biochemical  oxygen  demand 
in  rivers;  and  a  new 
synthetic  indicator  Ecological  Footprint  (EF)212  as  one  of 
the  most  widely  used  and  recognised 
integrated 
for  human  pressure  on 
sustainability 
ecosystems,  with  the  ambitious  target  of  20%  reduction 
by 2030. EF (including the 20 % reduction target)  is also 
proposed  as  key 
for  the  new  national 
environmental action programme up to 2030. 

indicators 

in  gross 

indicator 

A number of policies and measures should help Slovenia 
to achieve its 2030 Development Strategy’s goals. Priority 
tasks  and  actions  for  the  government,  local  authorities 
and  other  stakeholders  are  set  in  line  with  these  goals. 
The  government  office  for  development  and  European 
cohesion  policy  coordinated  the  preparation  of  the 
strategy.  A  special  government  council  for  development 
will be created to coordinate the implementation of the 
strategy.  This  consultative  working  body  will  include  a 
wide  range  of  stakeholders  such  as  representatives  of 
social  partners, 
the  private  sector,  civil  society, 
institutions,  regional  and  local  communities  and  the 
government. 

211 Slovenian Development Strategy 2030. 
212 Ministry of Environment and Spatial Planning, Technical Report: The 
Ecological Footprint of Slovenia. 

34 

                                                                 
                                                                 
Environmental Implementation Review 2019: Slovenia 

To ensure that the strategy is properly implemented, the 
long-term  sustainability  of  public 
finances  and  a 
compatible  budget  need  to  be  ensured.  A  four-year 
national development policy programme and a medium-
term fiscal strategy will be prepared for this purpose. 

to 

the  UN 

index,  developed  by 

the  SDG 
Stiftung 

the 
According 
Bertelsmann 
Sustainable 
and 
Development  Solutions  Network,  Slovenia  ranks  9th  out 
of 157 countries for sustainable development. This shows 
that Slovenia is taking the right steps, but that it needs to 
continue  to  implement  the  necessary  policies.  For  this 
purpose,  the  country  needs  to  involve  stakeholders  and 
civil society in an inclusive process.  

Slovenia  submitted  its  voluntary  national  review  on  the 
implementation of the SDGs to the UN in 2017213. 

213Voluntary National Review on the Implementation of the 2030 
Agenda. 

35