Ljubljana - Slovenia's second presidency of the Council of the EU will be remembered for good management of unexpected crises, found a debate hosted by the Ljubljana Faculty of Administration. Despite a lack of progress in enlargement to the Western Balkans, the speakers agreed the latest presidency was more successful than the first one.

The debate featured Jerneja Jug Jerše, the head of the European Commission Representation in Slovenia, Barbara Sušnik and Gregor Štajer of the Foreign Ministry and Boštjan Udovič of the Faculty of Social Sciences.

They gave their first-hand account of the work done on the presidency, from the conception of the trio's joint programme to its implementation.

As the presidency's key achievement they singled the adoption of 22 national recovery and resilience plans, which will contribute to the EU's faster recovery, green transition and digitisation.

Sušnik also noted the achievements of the digital services act, which will contribute to a safer online environment for citizens and businesses, and the digital markets act, which creates a level playing field for all businesses and online platforms.

The head of the Foreign Ministry's Directorate for EU Affairs also listed Slovenia's contribution to strengthening the EU's resilience to crises and to helping countries recover from pandemics.

In the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic, the EU has strengthened its preparedness for future health crises, Sušnik said, noting the agreements to strengthen the roles of the European Medicines Agency and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control and to establish the EU Health Emergency Preparedness and Response Authority.

"Slovenian diplomats have worked around the clock to attain the priorities set out in the programme," Udovič praised their work.

The speakers also discussed how to keep and put to use in the best possible way the expertise and experience gained during the presidency.