European Property Rights and Wrongs - Diana Wallis MEP
European Property Rights and Wrongs - Diana Wallis MEP
European Property Rights and Wrongs - Diana Wallis MEP
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Current EU law that effects l<strong>and</strong> law<br />
B2C Transactions<br />
The <strong>European</strong> Union has been active in the field of private law for several decades<br />
already. Although the rules that have been adopted mostly concern the<br />
law of contract, also property law is effected by some of these. After all, the<br />
acquisition of l<strong>and</strong> is also a legal transaction that starts with the conclusion of a<br />
contract. The rationale behind EU contract law legislation has not been to create<br />
a full <strong>European</strong> contract law, although there is a project currently underway that<br />
may change this, but to address situations of inequality between parties. Most of<br />
the EU contract law rules therefore apply to a business to consumer setting (B2C)<br />
where there is an unequal bargaining position that can be remedied by providing<br />
the consumer with additional information (pre-contractual) or empower him to<br />
withdraw from the transaction (post-contractual). In business to business settings<br />
(B2B), there has not been much regulation.<br />
The Directive on Misleading Advertising applies to immovables <strong>and</strong> forces the<br />
seller to provide (additional) information to the buyer. 21 The same applies to the<br />
newly proposed Directive on Mortgage Credit, which forces the service provider<br />
to provide information. 22 The timeshare directive, both in its old <strong>and</strong> new version,<br />
<strong>and</strong> the package travel Directive (that applies to leases of l<strong>and</strong>) do the same. 23<br />
The Directive on doorstep selling does not directly apply to l<strong>and</strong>, but following<br />
the case law of the CJEU there are serious indications that in some situations<br />
21 Directive 97/55/EC of <strong>European</strong> Parliament <strong>and</strong> of the Council of 6 October 1997<br />
amending Directive 84/450/EEC concerning misleading advertising so as to include<br />
comparative advertising.<br />
22 Proposal for a Directive of the <strong>European</strong> Parliament <strong>and</strong> of the Council on credit<br />
agreements relating to residential property (Text with EEA relevance) SEC(2011) 355<br />
final, SEC(2011) 356 final, SEC(2011) 357 final.<br />
23 Directive 94/47/EC of the <strong>European</strong> Parliament <strong>and</strong> of the Council of 26 October 1994<br />
on the protection of of purchasers in respect of certain aspects of contracts relating<br />
to the purchase of the right to use immovable properties on a timeshare basis, <strong>and</strong><br />
Directive 2008/122/EC of the <strong>European</strong> Parliament <strong>and</strong> of the Council of 14 January<br />
2009 on protection of consumers in respect of certain aspects of timeshare, long-term<br />
holiday products, resale <strong>and</strong> exchange.<br />
38<br />
A <strong>European</strong> L<strong>and</strong> Law?