The new law is expected to be adopted by the Parliament next year.
The drafting of the new Law on Islands started in March 2017. Several meetings of the working group were held, as well as numerous informal meetings and exchange of opinions among experts from different fields connected with the development of islands. Several public forums were also organised.
In late October, after reports that the final proposal of the Law would soon be published, the Island Movement publicly called on the representatives of the Ministry of Regional Development and EU Funds and the working group not to rush and to take a more systematic approach in preparing the final draft proposal, taking into account all relevant remarks from the islanders themselves. Thanks to understanding and support and a constructive cooperation of all involved parties, the draft law has been further amended.
Numerous comments from experts and organisations along the entire coast and islands who understand the specific island problems have been accepted. The final draft of the law was a pleasant surprise for the Island Movement since it is fundamentally different from the initial version. The Island Movement is extremely satisfied that the state administration has demonstrated good will to actively listen to the views and suggestions of people whose lives are affected by the law.
There are a number of proposals made by the Island Movement which have been included in the final draft. Some of these are: the clearer distinction between temporary and permanent islanders through the definition of the term “islanders”; islands have the particular regional organization; the inclusion of civil society representatives and the public in the primary advisory body; promoting social entrepreneurship and cooperatives on the islands; stronger and more concrete incentives for the activities of civil society; better instruments for tracking islanders’ benefits.
Another meeting of the law drafting working group was held recently and was attended by Island Movement’s Andreja Baraba, who has been dealing with the island issues for many years and is committed to their responsible development. She spent the day with the other members of the working group, reviewing the law paragraph by paragraph, so that it would be ready for the e-consultation process.
“According to Assistant Minister Tajana Huzjak, the Minister and the Prime Minister wholeheartedly support the adoption of this law. Given the prescribed procedure, the expected deadline for entry into force is the end of the second quarter of 2018. Comments to the previous version have been largely adopted, and overall co-operation is at the very high level. The whole process is proceeding in a satisfactory direction. The constructive discussion and proposals will soon be turned into an updated law proposal, which will be submitted to the members of the working group and then forwarded to the coordination of ministers, to the prime minister and to the public consultation process,” said Baraba.
