The role of the European Union in the reforms of the education system in Slovenia

Urška Štremfel

Summary:  In this paper, we focus on the role of the European Union (EU) in the processes of reforming the education system in Slovenia and answer the research question of how EU policies have been used to legitimise national reforms since independence in 1991. We start from theoretical and research assumptions about the interconnection between Europeanisation and national reform processes and its dependence on several national factors, including the institutional (in)capability to selectively adopt EU agendas. The paper is based on the results of an analysis of national public policy documents adopted at several points in time (White Paper on Education in the Republic of Slovenia 1995; White Paper on Education in the Republic of Slovenia 2011; Basis for the preparation of the National Education Programme for the period 2023–2033, 2023). The results show a stable legitimisation of national reform processes by referring to the authority of EU policy documents, experts and expert data at the EU level (governance of knowledge), Slovenia’s achievements and responsibility for achieving EU goals (governance of goals), comparison with other developed and successful education systems in the EU (governance of comparisons), and the discourse of crisis and the necessity of accepting reforms (governance of crisis/problems). The paper concludes with a critical reflection on whether the ongoing reform process can be considered a deliberate or passive Europeanisation of the education system in Slovenia.