Ljubljana, 7. - 8. June 2007
City Hotel

The aim of the seminar:

• To present Slovenian presidency to the EU Council in the area of environment.
• To present activities and experiences of SI and European NGOs and their co-operation.
  
• To present Slovenian experiences of European NGOs with EU presidencies and preparations to the presidencies in three countries (Germany - Portugal - Slovenia).
• How can Slovenian NGOs make a good use of the Slovenian presidency to the EU Council and of the European dimension in general?
• Identify possible conflicts between some priorities of SI presidency, and possible solutions.

Day 1: PRESIDENCY to the EU - an opportunity for NGOs?

Thursday, 7th June 2007

9:00 - 9:30 REGISTRATION

9:30 - 10:00
Greetings; presentation of the organisers and participants

Anamarija Slabe, ITR; EEB Vice-President
Regina Schneider, EEB: Presentation of the activities of EEB

10:00 - 11:00

Experiences of European, German and Portuguese NGOs with EU presidencies

Decision-making process in the EU and role of NGOs in the process
Regina Schneider, EEB

German environmental NGOs and their experiences with German Presidency
Markus Steigenberger, DNR, Germany

Discussion

11:00 - 11:20 BREAK

11:20 - 12:30
Preparations of Portuguese environmental NGOs to Portuguese presidency
Carlos Teixeira, Liga Para a Proteccao Da Natureza - LPN, Portugal

Preparations of Slovenian environmental NGOs to Slovenian presidency
Anamarija Slabe, ITR

Presentation of the project "Information and Communication Web Page for Civil Society Involvement into Slovenian Presidency to the EU"
Tina Divjak, Legal Informational Centre for NGOs

 
Discussion

12:30 - 13:45 LUNCH

13:45 - 14:45
Presentation of Slovenian presidency to the EU and role of NGOs as seen by the government

Irma Mežnarič, Ministry of Public Administration; Jasna Koblar, Government Office for European Affairs

Slovenian presidency to the EU in the area of environment - priority issues

Calendar of activities for Slovenian Presidency
Tea Glažar, MOP

Discussion

14:45 - 15:00 BREAK

15:00 - 16:30
Workshop:

Recommendations for co-operation of Slovenian NGOs in relation to the Slovenian presidency
Facilitated by: Vida Ogorelec Wagner, Umanotera

16:30 - 17:00
Conclusions

Day 2: BIODIVERSITY - CLIMATE CHANGE - ENERGY

Conflict between some priorities in the area of environment of the Slovenian Presidency to the EU seems inevitable, both on EU as well as on national level. We will have to achieve both goals - to halt biodiversity decline and to stop the climate change. In order to do this, a very careful and well thought-out energy policy is necessary.
What are the current and possible future conflicts and what should be the role of NGOs in providing solutions?

9:00 - 10:50
20 % energy from renewables: good or evil?

Biodiversity as the starting point for discussion about renewable energy sources
Peter Skoberne, MESP (Ministry of Environment and Spatial Planning)

Biofuels in Slovenia - possible directions of development
Marjan Dremelj, Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Food

Priorities of EEB / European NGOs in the area of biodiversity and the issue of biofuels
Pieter de Pous, EEB

Biofuels and genetic engineering: From "food for the starving" to "food for cars"?
Anamarija Slabe, ITR

Discussion

10:50 - 11:20 BREAK

11:20 - 12:30
What can we learn from "Case Volovja reber"
Tomaž Jančar, DOPPS - BirdLife Slovenia

Increasing share of renewable energy sources in Slovenia and biodiversity: really an unsolvable problem?
Andrej Klemenc, Slovenian e-forum

Discussion

12:30 - 13:45 LUNCH

13.45 -16.00
Climate change

Method of work:
Due to the relatively specialised topics, the work will be organised in the following way:
Short presentations followed by the exchange of opinions and in-depth discussion between representatives of MESP, European NGOs and Slovenian NGOs.

13.45 - 15.15

Presentations:

In-time conclusion of the negotiations for the post 2012 period
Boštjan Paradiž, MESP

NGO fight for an ambitious global agreement; activities of CAN - Climate Action Network
Matthias Duwe, CAN

Process of preparation of Slovenia for the post 2012 period
Lidija Živčič, Focus

Discussion

15.15 - 16.00

Revision of the ETS directive and inclusion of other sectors into trading system
Matthias Duwe, CAN

Discussion and conclusions

Organisation:
Institute for Sustainable Development (Inštitut za trajnostni razvoj), Ljubljana,
in co-operation with EEB - European Environmental Bureau, Brussels

Contact:
Institute for Sustainable Development (Inštitut za trajnostni razvoj)
Metelkova 6
SI-1000 Ljubljana
Tel. +386.1.43.97.465 - GSM +386.41.725.991 - Fax +386.1.43.97.105
anamarija.slabe@itr.si
www.itr.si

The organizers gratefully acknowledge the financial support from the Dutch
Environment Ministry VROM

Seminar is organised with the financial support of the information programme about EU membership, implemented by the Slovene Government Communication Office.