Edvard

Ljubljana – The National Assembly overwhelmingly approved on Tuesday the government package to mitigate the impact of high energy prices. As the coalition praised the bill and the wide range of beneficiaries during the debate, most of the opposition MPs also supported the bill, although they argued that the aid would come too late.

Ljubljana – The centre-left opposition is unanimous in saying the government measures to mitigate energy-price hikes are welcome but come several months too late and leave out several groups of population, as it has commented on a set of measures worth around EUR 200 million adopted on Saturday for households and companies.

Maribor – Health Minister Janez Poklukar said in an interview with the newspaper Večer that the expansion of the Covid pass requirement had been introduced to put the epidemic under control not to force anyone to get vaccinated. He said hospitals would soon need to restrict access to their services due to rising Covid-19 hospitalisations.

Ljubljana – Parliament passed on Tuesday changes to the water act with 44 votes in favour and 38 against. One major provision has been scrapped from the bill in the wake of criticism by NGOs, but environmentalists warn that the legislation is still problematic with efforts already launched to place the law on a popular ballot.

Ljubljana – The parliamentary environment committee has passed amendments to the water act changes, under which hazardous substances could be used under certain condition by production facilities located in water protection areas. While the government says adequate safety mechanisms are envisaged, the opposition warns of harmful effects for water sources.

Ljubljana – The parliamentary Labour Committee is discussing the eighth economic stimulus bill, worth around EUR 320 million. Labour Minister Janez Cigler Kralj said that with the bill, the government wanted to find the middle ground with social partners by taking into account their proposals as much as possible.

Ljubljana – The four centre-left opposition parties have filed a motion to declare an environmental and climate emergency after a similar attempt made in February failed to make it past the committee stage.