Main Actors
Slovenia has a long tradition of acting in a WGA-like fashion. Presently, it could be understood as a unique combination of several outstanding multilateral projects from the first decade and a half of Slovenia’s existence as well as from the experiences from the last decade. Although Slovenia has experienced political turbulence during the latter period, it has continued to be an active player in the international arena.
After Slovenia became a member of the EU and NATO, in-country cooperation and coordination in dealing with external conflicts and crises increased in terms of both momentum and scope. Cooperating and coordinating with the Brussels-based structures and member states of the EU became part of routine procedures. This has broadened the scope and enriched policy results, while preserving both formal and informal methods and processes. This enrichment significantly has to do with the adoption of a WGA in both practical and pragmatic ways, even though it has not been formalised.
There are a number of formal governmental bodies and structures that produce coherent and integrated policy approaches. Some of the most important are the Government Committee for Policy Affairs, the Government Committee for Economic Affairs, the National Security Council and its secretariat, the Strategic Council for Foreign Policy, the Permanent Coordination Group for International Development Cooperation, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as the supreme formal coordinating body for the whole field of development cooperation. These bodies coordinate policies and approaches between government departments as well as with the relevant EU bodies (as well as NATO, depending on the issues at hand). At the same time, they also coordinate their activities with relevant parliamentary bodies, and such efforts are well established and formal, producing policy output on areas relevant to a WGA. Some of the most important formal parliamentary bodies here are: the Parliamentary Committee on Foreign Policy, the Parliamentary Committee on European Union Affairs, the Parliamentary Committee on the Defence, and the Parliamentary Commission for Supervision of Intelligence and Security Services.
In addition, most of the ministries employ senior officials who deal with parliament and its bodies for this purpose, while some of them also have small task forces that permanently nurture these relations. What’s more, the secretary general of the government has a special team dedicated to looking after government-parliament relations. Within the ministries, bodies can be formed on an ad hoc basis to help coordinate policy, but their organisational approach, practical activities and duration of activity vary from case to case.
Coordination and cooperation with EU institutions and actors are primarily handled by Slovenia’s permanent mission to the EU, although some governmental bodies maintain direct contact with their EU counterparts on policy issues. As far as foreign policy, security and development cooperation are concerned, the MFA is the main formal coordinating/cooperation body within the government as well as for important international actors, such as the UN, NATO, the OECD- DAC and the OSCE. Although Slovene permanent missions are the ‘point’ players for these international organisations, some government and other bodies also have direct communication with them. In addition, an important aspect of Slovenia’s cooperation with the UN is the Ljubljana-based International Institute for Middle East and Balkan Studies (IFIMES), which has had a special consultative status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) since 2018.
Various formal and informal groups in different ministries are also responsible for coordination/cooperation with civil society groups. Among the most important are the Government Coordination Group for Civil Society and the Permanent Coordination Group for International Development Cooperation. Ad hoc meetings with senior governmental representatives also take place occasionally, as was the case with the MFA regarding crises in Yemen and South Sudan. An important part of policy cooperation is handled by the MFA’s Policy Planning and Research Department.
Last but not least, strong informal coordination and cooperation has been driven by a group of highly experienced members of the previous and current governments. This has included two ex-prime ministers as well as ministers of defence, of economic development and technology, of education and of justice.
The cooperation/coordination activities discussed above are both horizontal and vertical, taking place both within and between various government departments, as well as with the parliament, civil society organisations, the EU and other important international actors. This broad and flexible web of formal and informal activities amounts to a de facto WGA that is goal-oriented, goal-driven and well-articulated when circumstances arise. Indeed, although it is not formalised, Slovenia’s WGA works very efficiently on its current informal basis.