Certain deficiencies in the Code of Property Law and opportunities for improvement have come to light during its application, and the justice ministry has therefore embarked on drafting amendments.

The approach to the amendments was particularly restrained in its response to practices that the current code judges to be good, and there was no intervention into the institutions established by the current wording. The amendments mainly build on those institutions that have proven to be unfeasible in judicial practice without the requisite normative changes to the regulation of social relations, and those that failed to keep pace with the way in which business is done, or have hindered its evolution.

On one hand the proposed changes to property law track the needs of business and commerce, while on the other the proposed improvements in divided co-ownership and the new arrangements for connected real estate will allow for the regulation of relations that have already been established in business and life practice, albeit with the help of other institutions of property law less suited to the task. The bill also eliminates certain inconsistencies and deficiencies in the current arrangements.

The main solutions proposed by the bill for the Act Amending the Code of Property Law are:

-     the definition of animals as living beings, not as objects,

-     the overhaul and enhancement of divided co-ownership and situations similar to divided co-ownership,

-     the overhaul of the register of non-possessory liens and seized movable property,

-     changes to the area of fake easement in the public interest and superficies.

The government has approved the wording of the Resolution on the national programme of strategic guidelines for agriculture and food production in Slovenia entitled Our Food, Countryside and Natural Resources after 2021, which provides a basis for national measures and a standardised strategic plan for implementing the common agricultural policy.

The resolution pursues the following objectives:

1. Robust and competitive food production and processing
2. Sustainable management of natural resources and provision of public goods
3. Higher quality of life and economic activity in rural areas
4. Horizontal objective: strengthening the creation and transfer of knowledge

The ministry of agriculture, forestry and food has set the following objectives with regard to robust and competitive food production and processing: ensuring high standards for safe, high-quality food; ensuring the efficient use and availability of resources; achieving a comparable income level and income stability; strengthening agri-food chains and improving the position of the farmer in the chain; promoting the production and consumption of food with high added value; strengthening market focus and enterprise; encouraging generational renewal; maintaining the amount of agricultural land and its potential output. 

Pursuing the objective of the sustainable management of natural resources and provision of public goods relies in part on reducing adverse impacts on water, soil and air, mitigating climate change, protecting biodiversity, preserving the rural cultural landscape, and ensuring animal welfare.

From the perspective of raising quality of life and economic activity in rural areas, the objectives include encouraging supplementary activities on farms, strengthening local initiatives and intersectoral collaboration, and strengthening tourism’s ties to the quality of the food in the local environment, women in rural areas, and concern for vulnerable population groups.

The horizontal objective meanwhile requires the strengthening of research support for the development of agriculture and rural areas, the effective transfer of knowledge to final beneficiaries, and effective agricultural knowledge and innovation systems (AKISs).