V petek, 1. 2. 2013, je v Ljubljani potekala tiskovna konferenca pred plenarnim zasedanjem v Strasbourgu. Glavna tema tiskovne konference je bil finančni okvir 2014 ? 2020.

Stališče evropskih poslank Zofije Mazej Kukovič (ELS/SDS), dr. Romane Jordan (ELS/SDS), mag. Mojce Kleve Kekuš (S&D/SD) in mag. Tanje Fajon (S&D/SD) do sedemletnega finančnega okvirja je bil enoten. ?Svet EU določa višino evropskega proračuna za naslednje obdobje, Evropski parlament pa poleg Evropske komisije o tem tudi odloča. Če bo Svet EU še naprej nižal proračun 2014-2020 ga Evropski parlament ne bo potrdil, saj to pomeni veliko neizvedenih evropskih projektov,? so zatrdile evropske poslanke. Prvotni predlog o višini proračuna se je od poletja namreč že večkrat znatno znižal.

Poleg proračuna 2014 ? 2020 se je Zofija Mazej Kukovič tokrat lotila teme poplav, ki so Slovenijo prizadele novembra lani. Že od takrat si namreč prizadeva za sprejem resolucije, po kateri bi bilo Sloveniji za odpravljanje posledic poplav namenjeno najmanj 200 milijonov evrov evropskih sredstev. ?Vesela sem, da so slovenski kolegi v Evropskem parlamentu in naša politična skupina ELS ta predlog popolnoma podprli. Pogajanja o tem, ali bo ta resolucija tudi uvrščena na dnevni red, pa še potekajo,? je dejala Mazej Kukovičeva.

Spregovorila je še o temah, o katerih bo v Strasbourgu razpravljala. ?Naslednji teden bom govorila na temo raka, saj v ponedeljek tudi obeležujemo svetovni dan te smrtonosne bolezni. 11.000 ljudi v Sloveniji na leto zboli za rakom, kar 5000 jih umre. Prav zato sem mnenja, da moramo spodbujati zdrav način življenja. Po drugi strani pa nameniti več denarja za raziskave. Brez večjega vložka v raziskave ne bomo mogli uspešno kljubovati tej zaskrbljujoči statistiki,? meni Mazej Kukovičeva. Govorila bo tudi o lažjem dostopu do tveganega kapitala, ki bi ga morali omogočiti malim in srednjim podjetjem. ?Odnos bank do manjših podjetij je za podjetništvo uničujoč. Medtem ko za velika podjetja banke brez večjih zadržkov namenijo tudi 100 milijonov evrov, je za mala podjetja in start-upe že 50.000 evrov preveč,? je povedala. Resolucija za lažji dostop malih in srednjih podjetij do finančnih sredstev bo prav tako pomembna tema naslednjega tedna.

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Pisarna evropske poslanke Zofije Mazej Kukovič, tel: +386 (0)591 58 672, mail: vovkziva@gmail.com

Dear Mr.  Herman Van Rompuy,

President of the European Council,

Slovenian Members of the European People’s Party, dr. Milan Zver, dr. Romana Jordan, Ms. Zofija Mazej Kukovič and Mr. Lojze Peterle, would like to express our views in regard to the letter that had been sent to you by another Slovenian Member of the European Parliament, Mr. Ivo Vajgl on the 10th January 2013.[1]

We strongly condemn such manner of communication and hereby provide some additional explanation that we believe could contribute to a better understanding of the letter through a wider political context of the current situation inSlovenia.

We would like to emphasise that all political actions, accusations and attacks on political figures, in particular the current Prime Minister of Slovenia, Mr. Janez Janša, should be viewed in the context of current political crisis and reforms in our country. The Prime Minister is known for his independence efforts and his long fight against the former totalitarian regime inSlovenia. In this context we also see the case for the recently published Report of the Commission for the Prevention of Corruption of theRepublicofSlovenia. This report was prepared by three members of the Commission from which two cannot be considered as independent as one is member of the previous Government (current Opposition) while the second person is a journalist, well known for anti-Janša campaign lasting a decade. Prime Minister Janša repeatedly refuted and clarified the findings of the Report in the media. In addition, legal experts warn that the Report is not in accordance with the Slovenian Constitution.

Sloveniahas been going through difficult economic and social period during recent years. The previous Government (2008-2011) had been inactive and avoided necessary reforms thereby leadingSloveniato an even worse economic and financial crisis. When the current Government started to act in 2012 and adopted some unpopular but necessary reforms, financial indicators finally started to grow again. However, this was when a new dimension of crisis broke out inSlovenia- a political crisis. Slovenian Government is on the right path with new bank reforms, including transparency with which some players will not be happy. We believe that this is one of the reasons for the current political attacks.

Slovenian Members of the European Parliament expressed their concerns on current political situation inSloveniain a meeting with the President of the Republic, Mr. Borut Pahor, on the 9th January this year. We shared our beliefs on the need for cooperation among the whole political spectrum inSloveniain order to safeguard our national interests and lead our citizens and economy out of this crisis. In this view we particularly regret that the letter of Mr. Vajgl was not in line with the spirit of that meeting and was followed by misinterpretation in international media.

Yours sincerely,

dr. Milan Zver

dr. Romana Jordan

Ms. Zofija Mazej Kukovič

Mr. Lojze Peterle