"I cannot say there is lack of trust, but there is a problem of trust, with a number of issues that need to be addressed. There were more questions than answers last year," Plassnik said addressing Slovene diplomats at their annual conference in Brdo Pri Kranju, Slovenia, who inquired about Austria's experience and plans as the EU's chair in the first half of this year.
Slovenia expects its cooperation with Austria during the latter's presidency of the EU to be an excellent experience, which it will use in the first half of 2008 when it takes over EU presidency as the first among the countries which joined the EU in 2004.
Speaking to Slovene diplomats and Foreign Minister Dimitrij Rupel, Plassnik said that the problem of trust, which cropped up after the EU's great successes and optimism following the 2004 enlargement round, required more trust, more communication with the public on the EU's future and more dynamism through joint efforts by all member-countries and their partners.
Speaking about the priorities of Austria's EU presidency, Plassnik said that it had to be seen what could be done on the European level to remove the current high unemployment rate and recalled that there were 20 million jobless in the EU.
Plassnik confirmed that EU enlargement would remain one of the priorities of Austria's presidency.
Last year saw the launching of accession talks with Croatia and Turkey, which is of great importance, she said.
Austria will advocate assessing countries aspiring to join the EU by their individual achievements, Plassnik said.