From Policy to Practice: EU Circular Economy Legislation and Slovenia’s Implementation Challenges—A Systematic Review

The Circular Economy (CE) has become a foundation of the European Union’s sustainability strategy, aiming to dissociate economic growth from resource use. This article examines the legislative and monitoring frameworks underpinning the European Union’s CE transition, with a particular focus on Slovenia. A systematic review conducted in accordance with the PRISMA 2020 guidelines, EU-level policy analysis, and national indicator evaluation, this article explores the alignment between Slovenia’s national strategies and EU objectives. While Slovenia has demonstrated policy ambition and performs well in municipal recycling, it underperforms in circular material use and domestic material consumption. Governance fragmentation, limited sectoral integration, and monitoring challenges are key barriers. The study contributes to CE research by offering a country-level perspective on policy translation and performance. Recommendations are proposed to strengthen governance, data systems, and sector-specific roadmaps. These conclusions offer valuable insights for scholars and policymakers involved in implementing CE across multi-level governance systems.