From 25 - 27 September 2023, in Ljubljana, Slovenia, members of the ReSPA working group responsible for strategic planning, regulatory impact assessment and policy coordination paid a three-day visit to their Slovenian counterparts. This opportunity to exchange knowledge and best practices focused on various aspects of designing, adopting, and monitoring national strategies, public participation processes, impact assessment of legislation, and budget planning. Slovenian colleagues generously shared their experiences in policy planning, human resource management, legislative coordination mechanisms at the Slovenian and EU levels and areas of cooperation between Slovenia and the Western Balkans.

During the initial day, Jure Trbič, State Secretary of the Ministry of Public Administration of Slovenia, warmly welcomed the guests and provided updates on the Ministry's latest developments. Peter Grk from the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs outlined the current political context in relation to the EU accession process, while Jure Vršnak, from the Directorate for European Affairs elucidated EU legislative coordination mechanisms. Peter Pogačar, Director-General of the Public Sector Directorate, presented human resource management solutions deployed within the Slovenian public sector.

On the second day, Eva Treven, Director-General of the Directorate of Quality in the Ministry of Public Administration, greeted the guests. Genovefa Ružić, Katja Urek and Staša Mesec from the Ministry of Public Administration delved into innovations, training and better regulation in the Slovenian public administration, emphasising innovative approaches and working methods, such as those designed within projects like Inovativen.si and StopBirokraciji.si.

The final day of the study visit focused on inclusion/public participation in the processes involved in designing and monitoring strategies. Representatives from the Local Self-Government and NGO and Political System Directorate shared recent developments in the field of inclusion/public participation and how Slovenia has promoted this through legislative regulation, the e-democracy portal, and systematic support to NGOs. Mojca Štruc and Tadej Gabrijel from the Ministry of Digital Transformation provided insights into designing, adopting, and monitoring strategies, focusing on the Digital Public Services 2030 Strategy and the Digital Slovenia 2030 Strategy. The study visit ended with the presentation of Slovenian approaches to linking strategic planning and budgeting, given by Saša Jazbec, State Secretary of the Ministry of Finance.