Slovenia

High unemployment rate among
youth. (Photo: ILO)

Slovenia has had the sharpest decline in GDP since 2008 of any euro-zone member apart from Greece, although it has so far avoided having to ask for external aid owing to having entered the crisis with a far lower sovereign debt burden. The new Government has indicated that it will continue to avoid a bailout by driving through changes including bank restructuring, privatizations, and pension and labour reforms. However, poverty has increased and many people are no longer able to meet basic needs; without state assistance, the poverty rate is estimated to rise to 24%. Those who can’t find work have dropped out of the labour force. As a result, Slovenia has joined countries where people have taken to the streets to call for a more just and balanced economy, more participatory democracy and the rule of law.

Slovenia has had the sharpest decline in GDP since 2008 of any euro-zone member apart from Greece, although it has so far avoided having to ask for external aid owing to having entered the crisis with a far lower sovereign debt burden. The new Government has indicated that it will continue to avoid a bailout by driving through changes including bank restructuring, privatizations, and pension and labour reforms. However, poverty has increased and many people are no longer able to meet basic needs; without state assistance, the poverty rate is estimated to rise to 24%. Those who can’t find work have dropped out of the labour force. As a result, Slovenia has joined countries where people have taken to the streets to call for a more just and balanced economy, more participatory democracy and the rule of law.

In terms of gender equity Slovenia places itself slightly above the European average and all of its neighbours, but lags far behind the European countries heading the chart.

The failure of the current socioeconomic model in the country is obvious. The most burning social issues are rising unemployment, the reform of the pension system and new legislation on flexible part-time work, which replaces the previous system of student work while also offering unemployed and retired people incentives for “flexible” work. The bankruptcy of many companies and small businesses, widespread corruption, violations of workers’ rights and the exploitation of migrant workers, together with a controversial new coal power plant, have made the headlines. The country has also already faced significant penalties from the EU because of its deficient environmental policies.
The global crisis has demonstrated that if Slovenia is to survive in the new international environment it has to experience social, political and economic paradigm shifts. Regarding development assistance, the country has neither a strategy for development cooperation nor a system to evaluate aid efficiency. Its commitments will be difficult to uphold in the current context where there are national budget cuts in almost every sector. At the same time, and despite the documented success of their grassroots projects, civil society organizations are still considered minor players in the development arena.
The effects of the global crisis are beginning to be felt in this export-oriented country. They translate into rising food and energy prices, unemployment and poverty, and require a systemic response. This creates an opportunity to focus on human rights and environmental concerns, as well as on civil society issues that have been gaining momentum nationally. Slovenians therefore need to demand more from their Government than a mere boosting of the market.
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