7

The coalition leaders did not give statements after the meeting, but Prime Minister Miro Cerar's office issued a statement in which it said that Cerar will call a meeting of all parliamentary party leaders on the fiscal rule bill.

The implementation bill is needed to implement the no deficits rule which was enshrined in the Constitution in May 2013 as part of EU rules. Under the original timetable, the law should have been passed by November 2013 and the opposition Democrats (SDS) have twice threatened to launch impeachment procedures.

Meanwhile, discussing the ongoing pay negotiations in the public sector, the coalition partner agreed that the talks should be stepped up as the government looks for savings to close the budget for next year while keeping the planned deficit under 3% of GDP.

Privatisation was also broached, with the coalition leaders discussing the drafting of a strategy for the management of state shares in companies, the statement said.

Along with Cerar and Pensioners' Party (DeSUS) leader Karl Erjavec and SocDems (SD) leader Dejan Židan, the meeting was also attended by Finance Minister Dušan Mramor and heads of coalition deputy groups.