STA, 4 November 2018 - Slovenia is among the least influential countries in the EU, but it is also deeply committed to integration, according to study by European Council on Foreign Relations, a London think-tank.
Slovenia placed alongside Latvia, Malta and Croatia as the country with the least influence on EU policy, with the four countries tied at 25th place among 28 member states.
Slovenia is also 25th along with Bulgaria, Croatia and Malta in terms how influential it is in general in the bloc.
The study, called EU Coalition Explorer, singles out Germany, France, the UK and the Netherlands as the most influential countries overall.
Slovenia ranked high when it comes to fighting for deeper integration, placing 14th and beating the likes of Sweden and Finland.
When it comes to priorities, Slovenia is most active in common asylum policy, single fiscal policy, single market and single eurozone supervision.
Indeed, it is the most vocal advocate of the notion that all member states should be involved in a single fiscal policy.
Overall, Slovenia is of the opinion that the majority of common policies should be shaped by all member states.
It sees Germany as its best partner in policy making, followed by France and Italy.
Slovenia also ranks high, in 16th place, among countries that disappointed the least in the past two years; Hungary is seen as the country that disappointed the most.
The ECFR compiled the survey, which was released earlier this week, based on questions posed to 877 experts from all member states who are active in EU policy, be it in media, government or institutions.
You can find a PDF of the full study here – it’s 1113 pages long
