E-government significantly contributes to the openness and transparency of public administration operations and simultaneously raises the efficiency and quality of public administration services. The introduction of e-services also results in the modernisation of public administration work procedures and even of the organisation of its work. E-government services both assist the internal modernisation of public administration and make the administration more user-friendly since the services are more easily accessible in terms of time (24/7) and space (no unnecessary travel) while procedures are simpler and thus more user-friendly. By virtue of the above, e-government helps achieve the Lisbon Strategy objectives.
During Slovenia's Presidency of the EU Council, work on e-government will focus on the following priority areas: interoperability, elimination of administrative barriers, e-cooperation and e-inclusion. These issues will constitute the main elements of the programme of the conference on e-government entitled “Alliance with Users” 
to be held on 11 February 2008 at Brdo.
The Conference programme will give high priority to interoperability in the broadest sense, including activities to implement the Services Directive and activities associated with type A pilot projects in the context of the CIP ICT PSP (Policy Support Programme for Information and Communication Technology under the Competitiveness and Innovation Framework Programme) regarding interoperability. Interoperability is of key importance for the exchange of information between EU Member States and improved single market operation, as e-services between Member States enable easier and more efficient flows of people, services, goods and capital. By way of illustration, we would mention just some of the e-services which contribute to this and which are supported by the concepts of interoperable electronic identity and acquisition of data from official records: the possibility of temporary residence registration anywhere in Europe, registration of companies in any EU Member State, student exchange, etc. With the use of interoperable electronic identity and on the basis of data exchange between the information systems, EU citizens can perform business transactions between Member States by entirely electronic means. During its Presidency of the EU Council, Slovenia will pay particular attention to the creation of an entrepreneur-friendly environment by introducing “one-stop shop” services and establishing the conditions required for the Services Directive to be put into practice.
E-government is an important factor in eliminating administrative barriers and bringing about efficient public administration in general. Accordingly, in line with the conclusions of the Council of the European Union of March 2007, Slovenia will underline the importance of e-government in eliminating administrative barriers and stress the overall impact of e-administration and information technology in implementation of measures to simplify applications for various permits and administrative procedures.
Special attention will be paid to e-cooperation and e-inclusion. In this regard, e-inclusion provides a basis for reducing the digital divide and increasing the use of modern e-government services by the general public. E-cooperation forms the basis for involving the general public in decision- and policy-making processes and for the use of e-government services in general. Both e-inclusion and e-cooperation will bring the administration closer to the users it is intended for and will also enable modern e-government services to be better used.
During its Presidency of the EU Council, Slovenia will also support the implementation of the i2010 eGovernment Action Plan and cooperate in monitoring progress in the Member States.
In cooperation with the European Commission, Slovenia will during its EU Council Presidency organise the European eGovernment Services conference: IDABC and Beyond to be held on 12 and 13 February 2008 in Brdo. Slovenia's active participation in the IDABC programme is essential, first with a view to facilitating the exchange of experience and knowledge between Member States and the European Commission and, secondly, in the long term with a view to respecting the interconnectivity of services important for common European services. This is also why common guidelines and requirements regarding the development of national e-services should be followed as of now.
