ISLANDS AND SMALL STATES INSTITUTE
UNIVERSITY OF MALTA
Postal address: University of Malta, Msida MSD 2080, Malta
Secretariat: Tel/Fax: +(356) 21344879: email: islands@um.edu.mt
Director: Tel/Fax: +(356) 21340335: lino.briguglio@um.edu.mt
THE SLOVENIAN EU PRESIDENCY: LESSONS FOR
MALTA
Marjan Svetlicic, Professor at the Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Ljubljana,
and Head of the Centre of International Relations and Ambassador of Science of the
Republic of Slovenia, has delivered a public lecture, on the theme “The Slovenian 2008
presidency: Some Lessons for Malta 2017.” The lecture, which formed part of the EU
ERASMUS exchange programme, was held on Monday 25th April at the University of
Malta.
The major lessons for Malta can be summarised in 6 points as follows:
1. Start preparations/training as early as possible, at least 4 years before the
presidency is due to start. The presidency is a major challenge for a small country.
2. Be selective in setting the priorities, concentrate mostly on major issues of
national interest and delegate the other issues to other partner countries.
3. Be prepared for unplanned events which can change the planned priorities
substantially.
4. Knowledge about EU and its procedures are necessary but not a sufficient
preconditions for success. More importantly is the development of soft skill such
as leadership, communications, languages, negotiations skills and public
speaking.
5. Participation in EU decision making processes, before taking over the presidency
is vital.
6. Slovenia extensively utilised its national mission in Brussels as a major hub for
coordinating its presidency. This has proved to be instrumental in facilitating the
activities associated with the presidency.
Caption: Left Prof Marjan Svetlicic with Prof Lino Briguglio, who as Director of the
Islands and Small States Institute hosted Prof Svetlicic visit.