European Property Rights and Wrongs - Diana Wallis MEP

transactions and controlling unfair commercial practices, almost too successfully
since EU intervention has killed much of the market, locking existing purchasers
into unsaleable timeshares.
Aspirations have moved on from participation in a timeshare to the ownership
of a second home. This trend was stimulated by the increase in foreign holidays,
but has been boosted by the growth of internet marketing which makes it
very much easier to buy property in another country, but also much easier to buy
without the necessary local knowledge. Traditionally one needed to decide where
to buy, but the internet stands this logic on its head. Most property research is
now done on the internet and, in the jargon of tv property shows, one merely has
to decide what boxes to tick and then click the search button. Property portals
usually have conventional estate agents behind them, and it has not yet become
general to miss the professional marketing stage completely. Nevertheless modern
marketing is creating a cross-border dimension. The internet facilitates a connection
between a buyer, a portal operator, an agent, a seller, and some land, and
each of these elements might be dispersed in separate countries.
Europe has a potential standing first in relation to the marketing, secondly
in consumer transactions where a second home is bought from a developer and
thirdly in relation to cross-border transactions for example in the payment of the
purchase price across national boundaries. The EU might, for example, introduce
rules that required for the future a formal notice to future buyers of the risk of
incurring infrastructure charges, especially when a consumer buys a new build
apartment direct from the developer. However, market and consumer rules do
not provide a means to attack the substantive rules of Spanish property law and
the rules currently in force would not enable a challenge to a purchase on the
grounds of lack of information.
Notarial services
Whether Europe has a role in purchasing across internal borders depends on
whether the major problem is seen to be dealing successfully with the purchase
of land; or dealing with the administration of a cross-border purchase and the
possible market surprise of a foreign buyer.
32
A European Land Law?