CEPI - European Association of Real Estate Professions

Today CEPI publishes its position on the services package “A services economy that works for Europeans” which was published by the European Commission on 10 January 2017. This package includes legislative and non-legislative initiatives which are of particular interest to the real estate sector. These measures are legislative proposals on the services e-card, proportionality test and services notification procedures, together with a non-legislative communication on reform recommendations for regulation in professional services.

The real estate professions are semi-regulated with large differences in the level of regulation where it exists. These differences have already been explored at length by the European Commission in the scope of the mutual evaluation carried out by the European Commission in accordance with Article 59 of the Professional Qualifications Directive. To this analysis we would add that these differences are reflected in the diversity of professional practice and structures applicable in the different housing markets. It is not desirable to make policy decisions concerning regulation without being aware of the differences which exist and also the reasons for them. Professional regulations are not just a barrier, they exist in many countries for reasons of public interest including consumer protection and the avoidance of fraud. The aim of legislation at European level should be to ensure that professionals can work in different countries within the single market whilst respecting the law and regulations of the host Member State.

The services package, and particularly the proposals for the introduction of a proportionality test and the new notification procedure, raise serious questions about subsidiarity and the proportionality of the proposed introduction of these measures in a standardised way. We ask the EU regulators to examine the current proposals very carefully, taking account of the complexity of the real estate sector and the different models which exist for its regulation.

The position paper is available at http://www.cepi.eu/index.php?page=prises-de-position&hl=en .