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For the Romans, the town was an opportunity to develop trade and commerce, and in contrast to primarily military colonies like Emona and Petovia, Celje received the title "Municipium Claudia Celeia". In the times of the Counts of Celje, the town was not only the centre of humanism and the Renaissance in Slovenia, but also among the most important political centres in Europe. In the 19th century, Celje developed into an industrial centre. Development continued to progress rapidly. In recent years, Celje has gained a reputation as being the fastest developing Slovene town. It has become an important economic, cultural, commercial, and educational centre. Currently, one of the most important projects in the country, dubbed Tehnopolis+, is in progress. With this project, a new educational, economic, administrative and development centre for the town and the wider region will be established. Furthermore, we are developing other projects with equal care and enthusiasm; some of which have already been successfully put into operation. A new central waste treatment plant has been completed, while the regional waste treatment centre is currently in progress, as is the building of the distance heating station. Certain projects are planned for the future, for example the tourist development of Celjska koca and of the lake Smartinsko jezero. Celje is also one of the cities aspiring to be named European Capital of Culture 2012. We are working hard on the development project called Celjski vceraj in jutri ("Celjski yesterday and tomorrow"), which will connect Knezji dvorec, the old town's centre, the confluence of the river Savinja, and Stari grad. For all these projects we intend to use the grants of the European Union. I am proud to say that Celje can be seen as an example and can play a pivotal role in the development of Slovenia. All the projects, developed with the aid of the European Union, have been presented as examples of the collaboration with the EU in its publications.