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At the moment, it is not clear whether the president's post - essentially representing the European Union externally - should have some sort of staff. There are currently no provisions for this in the treaty. In addition, there is the thorny issue of all the pending EU laws that may be affected by the fact that the entry into force of the treaty will see MEPs have full co-decision rights.

Zagreb has taken steps to protect its coastal waters. Its neighbors and Brussels aren't happy.

Last week, the EU presidency, currently held by Slovenia, warned that Croatia could jeopardize ongoing negotiations on membership. Officials in Zagreb, however, dismiss suggestions that their efforts to protect marine resources could damage ongoing talks with Brussels.

Croatia's Protected Ecological Fishery Zone has been in effect for several years but only applied to EU states on 1 January. Neighboring Slovenia and Italy are most affected by the zone. Slovenia – which took over the rotating EU presidency on the same day, and which has clashed with Croatia on several occasions over disputed land and sea borders – contends that the zone infringes on its own water boundaries, while Italy argues it will hurt its substantial fishing industry.

Slovenia, currently at the helm of the European Union, is set to push for signature of the Stabilisation and Association Agreement (SAA) - the first step to EU membership - with Belgrade in January.

Mr Rupel also announced the EU bloc would set up a special "task force" aimed at helping Serbia to speed up its progress towards the agreement, including the country's "even greater cooperation" with the International Crime Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY).

Serbia's situation has been further politically complicated by the upcoming presidential race.

Slovenia is hoping the status of the Serbian breakaway province of Kosovo will be solved by the end of its EU presidency in June, and has indicated that an outcome other than independence for the province is unlikely.

It is "obvious" that a solution that satisfies both parties cannot be found and "it's not possible" to force Serbs and Kosovars to live together after the way ethnic Albanians were treated during the regime of former Serbian president Slobodan Milosevic, Mr Jansa was reported as saying by AFP. Kosovo will probably not obtain "total independence" right away though, he added.

With just three years of European Union membership under its belt, Slovenia will take on the EU presidency today (1 January) landing itself a highly politicised agenda. Of all the issues that the small ex-Yugoslav state will have to deal with over the next six months, two are set to dominate the agenda - the Kosovo question and the EU renewable energy package.