Faculty of Law, University of Maribor

Jean Monnet Seminar Summary
Regulating Short-Term Rentals: The Interplay Between Housing Challenges and Market Freedoms
Date: Monday, 29 September 2025 • Format: Online (MS Teams)

Overview. The seminar examined how EU law, national policy, and local practice intersect in regulating short-term rentals (STR). Speakers from academia, EU institutions, and city government discussed legal constraints (Services Directive, Article 16 Charter), policy design, and on-the-ground implementation. Two cross-cutting themes dominated: proportionality (targeted, evidence-based restrictions) and data (registration, interoperability, and platform cooperation as prerequisites for enforceable, proportionate rules).

Opening (Dr Janja Hojnik, Faculty of Law, University of Maribor). Framed the core trade-offs—public interest vs. entrepreneurship, tourism vs. housing affordability, right to a home vs. free movement—set the seminar’s questions and objectives.

Slovenian framework (Dubravka Kalin, Director General for Tourism, Ministry of the Economy, Tourism and Sport). Presented the newly adopted Hospitality Act as the outcome of three decades of debate. The Act adds conditions and simplifications, introduces time limits and a risk-based classification of municipalities, and will lean more on digitalisation of STR. Faculty of Economics studies (Airbnb/Vrbo) were cited to show rapid STR growth outpacing safeguards for other interests.

Fundamental freedoms (Tim Horvat, Lawyer at the Court of Justice of the EU). Emphasised that housing rules are business regulations subject to CJEU scrutiny under Article 16 of the Charter. Reviewed key case law (including Alemo-Herron and AEON Nepremičnine) and stressed the centrality of the proportionality test.

EU law & policy landscape (Živa Šuta, Faculty of Law, University of Maribor). Asked whether, to what extent, and how the EU should engage on housing. Highlighted the rising role of EU law and the CJEU, again underscoring proportionality as the analytic lens.

You are cordially invited to an expert lecture by the United Nations Special Rapporteur about human rights in the occupied Palestinian territories, international lawyer Francesca P. Albanese, entitled:
Legal aspects of violations of human rights and the Geneva Conventions in the occupied Palestinian territories.

The lecture will take place on Tuesday, July 8, 2025, at 5:00 p.m. in the Senate Room on the first floor of the Faculty of Law, University of Maribor, at Mladinska ulica 9, Maribor, in cooperation with the Association for Participatory Society and the NGO Pekarna Magdalenske mreže, organized by the Faculty of Law, University of Maribor, Department of Criminal Law and the Institute for PIP.

You can register for the expert lectures on this application form (opens in a new tab).

You are cordially invited.

On October 1, 2024, a new Jean Monnet Chair project began at the Faculty of Law, University of Maribor, which was awarded to Full Professor Janja Hojnik by the European Commission for a period of three years.

The title of the project is "Everything as a Service (XaaS): Regulating the Digital and Sustainable Transformation of the Service Economy in the EU." Today, customers no longer just buy products; they increasingly pay only for (temporary) access to them. Thanks to major platforms such as Uber for ride-sharing, Netflix for streaming video content, and Google for cloud services, companies are recognizing the advantages of adopting "on-demand" or "as-a-service" business models. The topic includes economic, technological, and ecological aspects but remains under-researched in legal studies and practice.

The project will promote research and educational activities in this field, as well as international cooperation between the Faculty of Law in Maribor and the Faculties of Law in Leuven and Copenhagen. Both Slovenian and foreign students at the Faculty of Law in Maribor will be involved in the content.

For the academic year 2024/25, three master's thesis topics are announced in the field of the project:

• Extended producer responsibility under EU law (i.e., the obligation to care for the product after its use - an environmental topic in light of the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Slovenia case at the EU Court of Justice)
• Short-term rental of real estate in light of the free movement of services in the EU
• The legal nature of cloud services under EU law: Between economic service and protection of sovereignty and personal data.

Welcome to study at the Master's program in European Legal Studies at Faculty of Law University of Maribor!

During the week of 15-20 January, the Faculty of Law hosted the PEPP - Programme in European Private Law for Postgraduates, which was attended by doctoral students from partner institutions (in addition to the PF UM, the universities of Münster, Cambridge, Leuven, Valencia, Genoa, Zagreb, Silesia, Katowice, Hamburg (Bucerius) and the Max Planck Institute for Comparative and Private Law in Hamburg).

The PEPP is organised under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Bettina Heiderhoff from the University of Münster, and coordinated at our Faculty by Assoc. Prof. Dr. Petra Weingerl. Our Faculty was represented by doctoral students Živa Šuta and Natalija Kunstek. Other doctoral and Erasmus students were also invited to attend the lectures.

The lecturers at the PEPP programme were (in chronological order): Prof. Dr. Verica Trstenjak, Assist. Prof. Dr. Katja Drnovšek, Prof. Dr. Matjaž Tratnik, Prof. Dr. Martina Repas, Prof. Dr. Janja Hojnik, Prof. Dr. Vesna Rijavec, Prof. Dr. Emilia Mišćenić (University of Rijeka), Assoc. Prof. Dr. Petra Weingerl, Prof. Dr. Bettina Heiderhoff, Prof. Dr. Damjan Možina (University of Ljubljana) and Prof. Dr. Tjaša Ivanc. We also visited the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Slovenia, where we were warmly welcomed and in a conversation with the President, Dr. Matej Accetto, the students learned a lot of useful information about the application of EU law at the Constitutional Court and about its cooperation with the CJEU. We also visited the EU Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators (ACER).

The event was co-funded by the ARIS project Z5-3220, the Jean Monnet module Fundamental Rights in EU Business Law and Policy (FURBUS) and the NOO Pilot Project "Green and Digital Legal Transformation".

On 7 and 8 December 2023, the Faculty of Law of the University of Maribor hosted a two-day International Conference Marking the 75th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights with eminent domestic and foreign experts in the field of international law. It was organized by Assoc. Prof. Dr. Petra Weingerl and Prof. Dr. Matjaž Tratnik. Ass. Živa Šuta and other employees of the Faculty were of great help to them.

The opening address was given by the dean Prof. Dr. Tomaž Keresteš, who also led the first panel. The keynote lecture was given by Em. Prof. dr. Gerard-René de Groot (Maastricht University).

In the first panel, presentations were given by Prof. Dr. Erika de Wet (University of Graz), Prof. Dr. Jure Vidmar (Maastricht University), Beti Hohler, newly elected judge at the International Criminal Court, Prof. Dr. Liesbeth Lijnzaad (Maastricht University, judge at the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS)) and Benjamin Letzler (University of Vienna).

The first day of the conference ended with a round table chaired by Prof. Dr. Borut Holcman, and the guests were Prof. Dr. Saša Zagorc (University of Ljubljana), Prof. Dr. Janja Hojnik and Assoc. Prof. Dr. Petra Weingerl (both from our Faculty).

Two panels were held on the second day. The first panel was chaired by Prof. Dr Janja Hojnik, and the lectures were given by Dr. Sarah Ganty (Yale Law School/Ghent University/CEU Democracy Institute), Dr. Marija Jovanović (University of Essex), Prof. Dr. Snježana Vasiljević (University of Zagreb), Prof. Dr. Jernej Letnar Černič (Nova University), Prof. Dr. Vasilka Sancin (University of Ljubljana, member of the UN Human Rights Council Advisory Committee) and Assoc. Prof. Dr. Petra Weingerl.

The second panel was chaired by Assoc. Prof. Dr Petra Weingerl and the lectures were given by Prof. Dr. Matjaž Tratnik (University of Maribor), Prof. Dr. Dimitry Kochenov (Central European University), Em. Prof. Dr. Hildegard Schneider (Maastricht University), Assoc. Prof. Dr. Samo Bardutzky (University of Ljubljana), Dr. Ana Bobić (Court of Justice of the EU) and Em. Prof. Dr. Silvo Devetak (University of Maribor).

This semester, Professor Janja Hojnik is serving as a visiting professor at the Faculty of Law in Leuven, Belgium. In this capacity, she is delivering lectures to Master's students as part of the Global Law program, focusing on the legal aspects of servitization in the EU. The course delves into innovative subjects, exploring megatrends such as the integration of products and services, digitization, and the circular economy.

You are cordially invited to the guest lectures of Prof. dr. Stefan Enchelmaier from the University of Oxford. He will hold the following lectures (in English):

 - March 29 at 10:15 a.m.: course Comparative law and major legal systems (lecture room B)

 - March 30 at 8:45 a.m.: course EU Legal System and Institutions (lecture on Fundamental Principles of EU law), Auditorium Maximum

 - March 31 (tbc): discussion on legal studies and methodology

 - April 3 at 2pm: course Transnational Legal Studies (lecture on Free movement of goods in the EU)

Prof. Dr. Stefan Enchelmaier studied Law, Philosophy, and Latin at the universities of Cologne, Hamburg, and Edinburgh. He obtained his doctorate from the University of Bonn with a thesis on European competition law, and his habilitation from the University of Munich with a thesis on comparative Anglo-German personal property law. He also graduated LLM from the University of Edinburgh, and was conferred an MA by the University of Oxford. He held posts in Oxford (1997-2003); Max-Planck-Institute for Innovation and Competition, Munich (2003-2008); and York (2008-2013). He returned to Oxford in 2013.

For more information, you can contact doc. dr. Petra Weingerl at petra.weingerl@um.si.

Dear students.

The University of Maribor offers you comprehensive support in developing your potential and overcoming challenges during your studies. With the UM Student Hub, support is available to all UM students when deciding to study, during their studies and at the end of their studies when integrating into the labour market.

Check out and follow also:

• UM Student Hub website,
• news at my.UM,
• upcoming events and workshops for students,
• The University of Maribor social media: Facebook UM, LinkedIn UM, Instagram UM.

For participating in educational workshops, students also receive certificates (in a portfolio), which you can attach to your CV.

She has received several research grants and recognitions, including a PhD fellowship from the Portuguese Science and Technology Foundation, an Universiteitsfonds Limburg (SWOL) grant and the Europa Prize 2008, which she received for notable academic achievements in several Member States of the European Union.

Marta Santos Silva has been working in academic and policy pan-European projects for the harmonisation of European Private Law since 2005 and has vast international experience in teaching and academic management. The perspectives and insights obtained in her career to date have led to her current research agenda which combines consumer law, digitalisation, and sustainability studies. She has been analysing the potential of nudges for fostering environmental sustainability and how it affects consumer autonomy. Currently, she is studying the virtues of essentialism for consumers and how consumer law can and should react to this alternative consumption trend.

Doc. dr. Petra Weingerl has started running two research projects. She was successful in the European Commission's Erasmus + call with the Jean Monnet Module "Fundamental Rights in EU Business Law and Policy (FURBUS)". The Jean Monnet Module, which will combine teaching and research in a highly topical area, will run for three years.

This semester, doc. dr. Weingerl also launched a postdoctoral research project entitled "Deterrence as a concept in private enforcement of EU law". The postdoctoral project, funded by the Slovene Research Agency (ARRS), will run for two years.

You are kindly invited to attend the activities of both projects.

Elisa Paredis, Ph.D. Researcher and teaching assistant, from Faculty of Law University of Leuven, Belgium is visiting our faculty this week. She will conduct interviews with us regarding the designations of origin of goods in connection with the promotion of Slovenian quality and will give a lecture for 3rd-year students as part of the EU Internal Market course.

We wish her a pleasant stay at Faculty of Law University of Maribor

Our faculty was represented by Nina Berglez, Ilona Osrajnik, Živa Šuta, and Eva Žagar, under the mentorship of Leon Brulec, Admir Muratović, doc. Petra Weingerl Ph.D. and prof. Matjaž Tratnik Ph.D.

The team of the Faculty of Law, University of Maribor, achieved 84th place (Preliminary and Advanced Rounds) in the world part of the competition (Global Rounds) among 571 teams, which represents 15% of the best. Živa Šuta was ranked among the 250 best speakers (oralists), and Nina Berglez reached 296th place as a speaker (White & Case Advanced Rounds all oralists).

As part of the competition, the team also recorded a presentation video, which you can watch below.

Congratulations!

The Students Civil Litigation Moot was first organized as an in-house moot for students from the Faculty of Law, University of Maribor and is getting bigger every year, with students from the Ljubljana Faculty of Law having started participating in 2016 and other universities in the following years.

The competition is based on a civil litigation procedure. Students need to study the procedural background to successfully file a lawsuit and afterward also the facts of the given case, to successfully argue their case in front of the made-up tribunal.

You are cordially invited to watch the presentation video of the Faculty of Law, University of Maribor, produced by the Slovenian Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (SQAA).

On March 1, 2021, the largest law competition, the Jessup Moot Court Competition 2021, began, a simulation of the proceedings before the International Court of Justice in The Hague. About 1000 faculties from all over the world take part in this competition every year!

The groups represented the 'Applicant' and the 'Respondent' and represented their solutions to 4 fundamental issues before recognized lawyers, judges, lawyers, and professors:

• Border closures during a pandemic
• Diplomatic asylum
• The jurisdiction of the ICTY and the responsibility of the Countries to shoot down an aircraft.

At the intercontinental battles, the Faculty of Law of UM was represented by: Živa Šuta, Nina Berglez, Ilona Osrajnik, and Eva Žagar under the mentorship of Leon Brulec, Admir Muratović, doc. Petra Weingerl Ph.D. and prof. Matjaž Tratnik Ph.D.

They received two awards, namely the Best Memorial for the Applicant and the Best Memorial for the Respondent, awards for the best-written documents of both parties.

You are cordially invited to attend a guest lecture of dr. Sarah Ganty with the title "EU Asylum, Immigration and Integration Policy: Selected Issues". The lecture will be held on Monday, 14 March 2022, at 1 pm in the lecture hall Auditorium Maximum. The lecture will be held under the auspices of the Jean Monnet Module Fundamental Rights and EU Business Law and Policy.

Sarah Ganty, LL.M. (Yale), Ph.D. (ULB), is a FWO postdoctoral researcher at the University of Ghent and a guest lecturer at the Central European University in Vienna and at the Facultés Universitaires Saint-Louis in Brussels. Dr. Ganty is also a J. S. D. candidate at Yale Law School.