About us

The Chamber of Craft and Small Business of Slovenia is an umbrella organisation comprising the craft and small business chamber system jointly with 62 regional chambers of craft and small business. The Chamber of Craft and Small Business of Slovenia and the regional chambers of craft and small business are independent legal entities managed by craftsmen – officials (functionaries) – on a voluntary basis.

Our mission

The Chamber of Craft and Small Business of Slovenia acts and communicates with the public to support and promote the traditional values of its members; hard work, effort, perseverance, honesty, honour, ethics, quality and excellence, and knowledge and innovation. The Chamber advocates preserving the tradition and peculiarities of small business. It provides for an equal role of regional chambers of craft and small business and offers full expert support and assistance to its members.

The key role in the Chamber is played by professional sections because they represent the foundation for linking craftsmen. The Chamber uses its efforts in Slovenia and Europe to improve the conditions for doing business in craft, micro, small and medium-sized enterprises. Craftsmen and their chamber have become an equal partner in the dialogue with the government and trade unions.
 

Organisation

The Chamber of Craft and Small Business of Slovenia is managed by its members through elected or appointed representatives in the Chamber’s bodies. The Chamber’s bodies are General Assembly, Managing Board, Supervisory Board, President, and Director of the Chamber. Members of the Chamber discharge their functions in bodies and act in other forms of operations and decision making of the Chamber on a voluntary basis unless provided otherwise by the Statute. The office term in the Chamber’s bodies is four years. Members of the bodies continue to perform their duties after their term ends until new members are elected or appointed.
The General Assembly is the highest management body of the Chamber and comprises 92 representatives. The General Assembly consists of representatives from:

• regional chambers of craft and small business with 1 representative each (62 representatives);
• sections with 30 representatives, 1 per each section.

The Managing Board is the management and executive body of the General Assembly with 11–15 members from representatives in the General Assembly. The Managing Board is chaired by President of the Chamber who acts as the chair of the Managing Board and its formateur. The chair and the formateur shall provide for the composition of the Managing Board to include representatives from different regional chambers of craft and small business and representatives from sections of different activities.

The duties of all bodies of the Chamber and of administrative departments are laid down in the Statute of the Chamber of Craft and Small Business of Slovenia.

Core tasks

1. Representing the members’ interests before the government

Cooperation with the Government, the ministries and the National Assembly in creation of economic policy and co-creating the best possible legislation governing craft, micro, small and medium-sized enterprises. The core principle in legislation should be “Think Small First”.

2. Informing the members

• Obrtnik podjetnik magazine (sent to all members regularly paying the membership fee)
• Public relations (information about craft in other media)
• Internet and Intranet
• A number of other publications (collections, manuals, textbooks and promotionalmaterial)

3. Performing services to members

• Consulting to the members (incorporating a company – the VEM one-stop-shop, taxes, labour and welfare law, company and civil law, wages and salaries, accounting and bookkeeping, technical regulations and standards, favourable sources of finance, entering foreign markets, environmental protection, health and safety at work and e-business).
• Organising training
• Organising fairs
• Organising participation of members on fairs in Slovenia and abroad
• Organising business conferences
• Mozaik podjetnih Card (identification, paying and discounts)

4. Exercising powers conferred by public law

• Managing the procedure of issuing, changing or terminating the validity of craftlicences
• Issuing decisions on entry of craft-like activities in the Craft Register
• Managing the Craft Register as a centralised database
• Issuing EU certificates by which companies and independent entrepreneurs prove thatthey meet the conditions for performing a craft or craft-like activity inSlovenia
• Managing the Master Craftsmen Register and the Court Experts and Appraisers Register forcraft activities
• Organising and implementing master craftsman exams
• Performing the procedure of checking and establishing qualifications for certificatesunder the national qualification system (NQS)
• Providing for obtaining basic qualifications and regular training of drivers of roadvehicles
• Performing training and exams for servicing personnel for cooling and air-conditioningequipment and heat pumps
• Managing the teaching sites register – a database of certified plants for trainingsecondary school students – and the training agreements register
• Managing interim and final exams in vocational education and supervising practicaltraining
• Issuing certificates for domestic arts and crafts products
• Issuing and withdrawing licences of the Road Transport Association
• Issuing certificates to drivers not being citizens of a Member States of the Community
• Issuing labels for car taxis
• Issuing permits for international transport of goods to domestic carriers including CEMT permits
• Issuing certificates to carriers in the procedure for obtaining a Russian visa
• SMEs test

Contacts