One of the basic duties of the Government Office for Legislation is to examine all government material which must, prior to being submitted for government debate, be coordinated with the relevant ministries and government offices. The Office must examine this material with respect to both its systemic and technical legality and submit its views. Since Slovenia’s accession to the European Union, the acquis has constituted an important part of our internal legislation, so that dealing with the drafts of regulations in the Republic of Slovenia must also encompass an assessment of their compliance with the instruments of the European Union which, in line with the principle of their primary nature, prevail over the national legislation. The assessment of regulations from the viewpoint of the acquis requires special expertise in the examination of the legal institutes of the European law and the suitability of their transposition to and implementation within Slovenia’s legal order.

In the somewhat altered circumstance following accession, the Government Office for Legislation took on a coordinating role in the notification procedure, i.e. the procedure of the official notification of the European Union about the regulations adopted by the Republic of Slovenia in order to ensure the transposition of Directives into the national legal order.

On the day of Slovenia’s accession to the European Union, the European Commission, whose key task is to supervise the implementation of the acquis, acquired both the right and the duty, on application by another Member State or following a proposal by a person reporting an infringement, i.e. any legal or natural person, to initiate ex officio a proceeding against the Republic of Slovenia in order to establish whether an infringement of the acquis has occurred. The Office has throughout been cooperating in pre-judicial procedures initiated due to the non-notification of national regulations, coordinating views on or replies to letters from the European Commission, and cooperating with line ministries and government offices in the drawing up of these views and replies.

All national bodies involved in the procedure of adopting the regulations of the Republic of Slovenia which must be brought in line with the acquis have since accession been raising various questions, relating in particular to the legally suitable transposition of Directives into Slovenia’s legal order and the legal harmonisation of Slovenia’s regulations with other EU institutions. The Office is thus constantly searching for suitable answers to these questions, trying to establish a balance and conformity between European and Slovenian regulations and, in cooperation with other departments, searching for answers to procedural questions, as well as striving to establish consistent practices with regard to communication with the competent EU bodies.

With the intention of presenting a few of the most topical themes, there follows some information on inter-ministerial coordination, the monitoring of the acquis, notification procedures, procedures involved in the establishment of infringements of the acquis and other procedures carried out by the Government Office for Legislation or procedures in which the Office participates.