Background information

The seventh COVID-19 law (ZIUPOPDVE), adopted by the Parliament on 29 December 2020, includes some articles concerning culture, media and NGO sector. These sectors were not only affected by the epidemic, but also by harmful decisions of the state apparatus. Here are few examples. During the epidemic, Ministry of Culture is not renewing ‘self-employed cultural workers’ status (and ignore expert commissions), so persons concerned lost social and health security in the situation of social hardship.

Second, the same ministry has started eviction of 23 cultural and NGO organisations from the building at Metelkova 6 in October 2020, at the beginning of the second wave of the epidemic. They are supposed to empty the building until 31 January 2021 and make space for the new Museum of Independence.

Third, the Government Communication Office stopped paying Slovenian Press Agency (STA) for contractually agreed work in October 2020. Moreover, in public discourses, the three sectors are often stigmatised as parasites and accused of anti-governmental activities.

Content of measure

The seventh COVID-19 law (ZIUPOPDVE) introduces some measure which will temporarily reduce the damage done to these sectors. Article 66 provides the Slovenian Press Agency (STA) with due payments since October 2020 and further payments in 2021. Thus, the law resolved the issue of funding for at least one year.

Article 64 passed the jurisdiction from the government to the Ministry of Finance and so make possible transfers of due payments to some cultural institutions. Film producers are mentioned as one group whose payments were frozen over the whole year 2020. As a consequence, they haven’t got payments for work done nor could they start new projects.

Article 60 raises the percentage of income tax from 0.5% to 1% that taxpayers can give directly to the NGO of their choice. The problem was a complementary proposal to the one finally adopted. Namely, the government proposed to terminate the NGO Fund. While direct funding depend on popularity of one NGO among taxpayers, the fund (according to NGO network organisation CNVOS) assures equal allocation of funds across the territory and among social spheres. The public resistance forced the government to withdraw this proposal.

Article 67 provides collective copyright management organisations with the right to allocate 25% of their funds to their members. This measure aims at alleviating the social hardship of workers in culture and entertainment.

Use of measure

No information is available so far.

Target groups

Workers	Businesses	Citizens
Particular professions	Sector specific set of companies	Applies to all citizens

Actors and funding

Actors	Funding
National government	National funds

Social partners

Social partners' role in designing the measure and form of involvement:

	Trade unions	Employers' organisations
Role	Unknown	Unknown
Form	Not applicable	Not applicable

Social partners' role in the implementation, monitoring and assessment phase:

• Unknown
• Main level of involvement: N/A

Involvement

Social partners discussed the seventh anti-COVID package in the Economic and Social Council. However, no information is available about their views on this particular issue.

Views and reactions

No information is available.

Sectors and occupations

Sources

• 20 October 2020: MMC RTV, Ministrstvo za kulturo ‘deložira’ nevladne organizacije [The Ministry of Culture ‘evicts’ NGOs (www.rtvslo.si)
• 26 November 2020: Asociacija, Nezakoniti postopki ministrstva se morajo končati [The ministry's illegal proceedings must end (www.asociacija.si)
• 23 December 2020: Asociacija, Odziv na Zakon o interventnih ukrepih za pomoč pri omilitvi posledic drugega vala epidemije COVID-19 [Response to the Act Determining Intervention Measures to Assist in Mitigating the Consequences of the Second Wave of COVID-19 Epidemic (imss.dz-rs.si)
• 28 December 2020: CNVOS, Glasujte za ohranitev Sklada za NVO [Vote for the NGO Fund (imss.dz-rs.si)
• 30 December 2020: Act Determining Intervention Measures to Assist in Mitigating the Consequences of the Second Wave of COVID-19 Epidemic (Zakon o interventnih ukrepih za pomoč pri omilitvi posledic drugega vala epidemije COVID-19, ZIUPOPDVE (pisrs.si)