The President of the Republic of Slovenia and Mr Valéry Giscard d'Estaing discuss mainly the Treaty of Lisbon

Ljubljana, 29.1.2008  |  press release

The President of the Republic of Slovenia, Dr Danilo Türk, today met the former President of the French Republic, Mr Valéry Giscard d’Estaing. Slovenia's President noted that Mr Giscard d'Estaing had played a historic role in building a united Europe.

President Türk and Mr Giscard d’Estaing devoted the main part of their discussion to the Treaty of Lisbon, the implementation of the Lisbon strategy and to certain other current issues. Mr Giscard d'Estaing said that he anticipates no particular problems regarding the ratification of the Treaty of Lisbon and stressed the significance of the Slovenian Presidency. According to the former President of the French Republic, this is a historic moment for both, Slovenia and the European Union, “symbolising the fact that we are becoming a genuine union of 27 Member States which are equal and which share the same rights and obligations.”

Regarding the implementation of the Lisbon strategy, Mr Giscard d'Estaing said that tangible results are needed. In Mr. Giscard d’Estaing's opinion, eight years following the adoption of the strategy to improve the competitiveness of the EU economy, the results are relatively poor. The French guest pointed out that it was a very good idea on the part of the Slovenian Presidency to dedicate itself to the Lisbon strategy during its Presidency.