_{Employment of foreign workers}

The ESS issued 33,115 work permits in 2004. This was a fall of around 500 on the 2003 figure, with the largest fall being recorded in the number of permits for work (down from 6,325 in 2003 to 4,085). The number of permits for work fell as a result of restrictions placed on the influx of workers from third countries pursuant to a special government decree and following efforts by the ESS to replace foreign seasonal workers with domestic unemployed persons. From May 2004 the ESS carried out an additional task involving the registering of workers from other EU member states, through which Slovenia established the free movement of workers. A total of 2,819 applications for work from EU workers were registered: 625 employment applications, 186 applications for individual work, and 1,982 applications to perform services.