Slovenia(ns) in the European Union: Reflecting on Missed Opportunities and Lessons Learned Two Decades Later

If we look at Slovenia’s path to EU membership through the lens of the human lifespan, it can be divided into four phases: Infancy, childhood, adolescence and adulthood. Now in its twenties, it is in a stage between adolescence and adulthood. The lack of self-confidence and assertiveness in pursuing national interests could indicate that Slovenia has not yet fully matured and in some respects is still in “puberty”. Overall, membership has been a success in economic, political and cultural terms, even if the initial success story later began to pale in comparison to some other new EU members. The benefits outweighed the costs of membership even compared to the counterfactual scenarios. The main challenge for the future is to avoid past mistakes, such as delays in adapting to the changing, volatile, unpredictable and risky environment, and to improve competitiveness through bolder and faster reforms. Last but not least, soft skills (lobbying, negotiation and communication) need to be improved in order to pursue national interests more confidently than in the past. This represents an opportunity for the new generation of politicians and business leaders, provided that they overcome the pubescent growing pains that still exist.