Schedule of Events from 12 to 18 December

MONDAY, 12 December
        BRUSSELS, Belgium - EU foreign ministers are to continue talks on the EU 2007-2013 spending plan, discuss further EU enlargement and the situation in the Balkans. Slovenia will be represented by FM Dimitrij Rupel and European Affairs State Secretary Marcel Koprol.
        LJUBLJANA - The parliament is to conclude its extraordinary session with votes on the 2006 and 2007 budget bills.
        HONG KONG, China - A four-day WTO parliamentary conference, organised by the European Parliament and the Interparliamentary Union, is to begin as part of a WTO ministerial conference, due from 13 to 19 December. A Slovenian delegation to take part.
        LJUBLJANA - The four largest trade unions are to organise talks on the 2006-2009 social agreement. Representatives of the Employers' Association and the Chamber of Commerce said they will take part, while Labour Minister Janez Drobnic will probably not attend.
        LJUBLJANA - Justice Minister Lovro Sturm is to receive Franjo Lukenda, who complained about the lengthy proceedings in Slovenia to the European Court of Human Rights, which ruled in his favour. Later on, Sturm and State Secretary Robert Marolt are to present to the press a plan to deal with court backlog by the end of 2010.
        LJUBLJANA - The opposition Liberal Democrats' (LDS) head Jelko Kacin and MP Matej Lahovnik are to present to the press the LDS standpoint on the amended 2006 and 2007 budget bills.
        POSTOJNA - PM Janez Jansa is to take part in a meeting of Slovenian mayors.
        LJUBLJANA - The UN Association for Slovenia is to stage a ceremony to mark World Human Rights Day, celebrated on 10 December. President Janez Drnovsek is to deliver the keynote address.
        VIENNA, Austria - At an invitation of Austrian Interior Minister Liese Prokop, Interior Minister Dragutin Mate is to attend the opening of an intervention and crisis coordination centre at the Austrian Interior Ministry.
        LJUBLJANA - President Janez Drnovsek is to receive credentials of the new Luxembourg Ambassador to Slovenia Christian Braun.
        LJUBLJANA - The government's spokesperson Valentin Hajdinjak is to present to the press the work of the prime minister's office after the first year since elections.
        
TUESDAY, 13 December
        BRUSSELS, Belgium - The EU Competition Council is to hold an extraordinary session to discuss an EU draft directive on the registration and authorisation of chemical substances (REACH). Slovenian delegation to take part.
        HONG KONG, China - A six-day WTO ministerial conference is to get underway, to be attended also by Economics Minister Andrej Vizjak.
        LJUBLJANA - The parliamentary foreign policy committee is to hold a session.
        LJUBLJANA - The gallery Equrna is to host an exhibition of works by Austrian Carinthian painter Valentin Oman. The show, which marks the artist's 70th birthday, is to be opened by Austrian Ambassador to Slovenia Valentin Inzko.
        LJUBLJANA - The second edition of Animateka festival of animated film is to get underway, through 17 December.

WEDNESDAY, 14 December
        LJUBLJANA - President Janez Drnovsek is to host a forum on Slovenia's future with a focus on dialogue and relations between the state and religious communities.
        LJUBLJANA - The parliament is to start its regular December session. One of the items on the agenda is the appointment of Joze P. Damijan a minister without portfolio in charge of reforms (through 20 December).
        LJUBLJANA - The government is to convene for its regular weekly session.
        LJUBLJANA - The parliament's foreign policy committee and EU affairs committee are to hold a session.

THURSDAY, 15 December
        BRUSSELS, Belgium - Gathering for an EU summit, EU heads of state, including PM Janez Jansa, are to try and reach an agreement on the EU 2007-2013 spending plan. Jansa, who will be accompanied by FM Dimitrij Rupel and European Affairs State Secretary Marcel Koprol, is to attend a meeting of the European People's Party.
        SARAJEVO, Bosnia-Herzegovina - Defence Minister Karl Erjavec and Slovenia's Chief-of-Staff, Major General Ladislav Lipic, are to visit Slovenian soldiers serving in a mission in Bosnia-Herzegovina.
        LJUBLJANA - The management board of the Chamber of Commerce (GZS) is to discuss the current situation at the GZS, as well as plans for 2006.
        KOCEVJE - A ceremony is to mark 15 years since a special military unit was formed in Kocevska Reka in order to protect Slovenia during its independence process.
        LJUBLJANA - Union Olimpija is to take on Italy's Benetton Treviso in the 7th round of the Euroleague.

FRIDAY, 16 December
        BRUSSELS, Belgium - EU heads of states, among them PM Janez Jansa, are to conclude the two-day EU summit, the goal of which is to reach an agreement on the next EU spending plan.
        LJUBLJANA - The Slovenian Writers' Association is to confer the 20th Jenko Award for the best collection of poems in the past two years.

SATURDAY, 17 December
        KOCEVSKA REKA - A ceremony is to mark 15 years since a special military unit was formed to protect Slovenia during the process of independence. The participants are to be addressed by Defence Minister Karl Erjavec, with Alojz Peterle, the head of the first democratically elected Slovenian government, the keynote speaker.
        
SUNDAY, 18 December
        SKOFJA LOKA - Sever Awards are to be conferred by the Stane Sever Fund on outstanding actors.