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CEPI Contact #15 - January 2008
News The Presidents of CEPI, CEAB and EPAG, as well as the secretariat team send you their best wishes for a happy and successful year!
The member associations of EPAG welcome the Icelandic federation of estate agents as a new member of CEPI. It was with unanimity that, at the November General Assembly in Helsinki, EPAG welcomed the Icelandic association Félag Fasteignasala as a member. Iceland being a country which is a member of EFTA, the association presented its candidature as an associate organisation.
Created in 1983, the association has 250 members and fulfils completely the criteria for admission to EPAG. We welcome the Icelandic professionals. Margrét Olafsdottir will represent the association within CEPI.
For more information, please visit their website www.ff.is.
The 2008 work programme confirms CEPI's ambition to position itself as a fully representative European resource, and to develop actions which contribute to structure and influence the evolution of services and property marketsIn 2006 and 2007, CEPI discussed and/or adopted policy and educational work programmes. In 2008, CEPI will put those programmes into effect in collaboration with its association members, through a series of concrete projects representing an added value for the 200,000 professionals in the network. Communication efforts will have as their objective raising the reputation of CEPI and facilitating contacts between professionals and professional associations in Europe.
Policy work is and remains at the centre of the network's priorities. With an enlarged staff and with the active contribution of ten or so member associations, CEPI pursues its efforts to put in place a permanent policy and legal watch. As in 2007, it will pay particular attention to the putting into effect of the Directives on Services and Recognition of Professional Qualifications, as well as to questions linked to the environment and energy.
Self-regulation initiatives receive particular attention. Amongst them, we are committed to exploiting the code of ethics that the network has recently developed; this includes standards relating to the qualifications of professionals as well as professional services to clients.
Three educational projects are already included in the 2008 programme. CEPI intends to develop the Eureduc programme and, with its educational programme, it will develop a common certificate for students who follow the programme successfully. However, particular attention will be reserved for the continual training of professionals. Information and training seminars will be put in place and tested for those who wish to work on regional and cross-border transactions. By means of certain educational establishments linked to member associations of CEPI, we will develop also modules of European education and also attempt to respond to a growing demand on the part of professionals.
Information bulletins, an international congress organised by CIB and CEPI in October 2008 in Gent (Belgium), and joint approaches by several member associations to the European Parliament must be seen as priority tools of communication with a view to promoting exchanges and debates between professionals, member associations and the representatives of the European institutions on the subjects treated. Not forgetting collaboration by CEPI with the organisers of the property fair at Madrid (SIMA), which has as its objective to give it a full European dimension. As to CEPI's new website, it aims to become the reflection of the cross-border and European involvement of its member associations, and to develop as a platform and meeting place for information of common interest.
CEPI has as its mission to develop as a full European network. It also falls to it to develop services which reinforce professional practices like those mentioned above. Other services, new ones, must also improve knowledge of markets. Several new initiatives are actively being formed and we have decided to make a success of a first project as from 2008. We will inform you about these initiatives as soon as possible.
CEPI is putting online its new internet site. More user-friendly, more ambitious, more in keeping with CEPI's style, it offers more services and information
The new website wishes to reflect the true cross-border and European involvement of its member associations, and presents itself as a platform and meeting place for information of common interest. A system of references and links wishes to give the reader access to national as well as European information.
Certain headings are completely new. We hope in this way to respond to the needs of our member associations and the different parties involved in property in Europe. We intend to consolidate and develop these headings on a regular basis.
For member associations and their representatives within CEPI a reserved area is in the course of construction. It will offer a more detailed level of information, access to documents useful or confidential, and the possibility to transfer data.
Visit the website; give us your reactions and suggestions.
Legislation and Regulations Directive on Services
The European Commission's Directorate-General for Internal Market and Services has published on its internet site a handbook on the implementation of the Services Directive. The Directive was adopted on 12 December 2006 and will have to be implemented by Member States three years after its publication, i.e. by 28 December 2009, at the latest. According to the European Commission the handbook is of no binding legal value but is intended to give assistance to Member States in the task of implementing the Directive. However it does clarify some of the terms of the Directive. In particular "non-economic" services (i.e. services which are not performed for an economic consideration) of general interest are not covered by the Directive. Services which must respect the rules imposed are in principle those which are not explicitly excluded, but it should be noted that the list of services covered includes real estate services.
Because this is an important topic of interest to our member associations a fuller summary of our comments on the handbook will shortly be made available on the website.
Regulated ProfessionsDirective 2005/36/EC on the recognition of professional qualifications establishes rules according to which the professions regulated under the general system (as opposed to specific sectors) benefit from a right of mutual recognition. A profession is said to be regulated when access to it is subject by legal, regulatory or administrative provisions to the possession of a specific qualification.
The professions are listed in a database available on the website of DG Internal Market. Details about the regulated professions are available for each Member State in which the profession is regulated (although not as yet for some of the newer Member States). Interestingly, statistics are also available for the outcome of applications for recognition of qualifications in different Member States. Included in the list are details for the profession real estate agent/real estate agency manager/administrator/director, and we may look at the comparisons between different countries. For example, it is interesting to make a comparison between Austria and Belgium, being two countries for which detailed statistics are available. In Austria the practice of the profession of immobilienmakler is subject to possession of a diploma, as it is in Belgium. In Austria, over the period 1997-2004 (being the period for which statistics are available), in respect of applications from the holders of German qualifications, the decisions recorded include three positive automatic, six positive after test, eighteen negative automatic, and four applications which are still being examined. For the same period of time, in respect of applications from Italy, two are being examined.
For Belgium, over the same period of years, many more applications were made, but, for example, for applications from France, there were twenty eight positive automatic, five positive after training, twelve negative automatic, five appeals, two applications being examined and two undergoing a training period. In respect of applications from the Netherlands to work in Belgium, there were seventy one positive automatic, twelve after a test, one positive after training, twenty three negative automatic, seven negative after a test, two appeals and nineteen undergoing a training period. No further information is given on the site as to the procedure followed or reasons for decisions made. We are interested in finding out more about difficulties experienced by real estate professionals in having their qualifications recognized in different Member States and would like to gather information from our member associations concerning this. Accordingly this is a topic which we will be pursuing further in 2008.
European Qualifications Framework The European Qualifications Framework (EQF) is intended to be a reference system to allow comparison between qualifications awarded in different Member States, consisting of eight reference levels each corresponding to a different level of knowledge, skills and competences achieved through education and training. The EQF encompasses general and adult education, vocational education and training and higher education. It is intended that qualifications awarded in EU countries will state which EQF level they correspond to, level 1 corresponding to qualifications achieved at the end of compulsory education and level 8 matching those achieved at the highest level of education and training. The Recommendation of the European Commission, which has been approved by the European Parliament, foresees that Member States relate their national qualifications systems to the EQF by 2010, and that individual certificates or diplomas should bear an EQF reference by 2012. The EQF is already influencing the development of National Qualification Frameworks in many Member States, and is expected to be formally adopted in early 2008. For your diary
Professionals from more than 50 countries will join the real estate fair of Madrid (SIMA) and its International Programme in April 2008. CEPI will be present.
On April 9 to 11, the Madrid International Real Estate Exhibition (SIMA) will hold a vast program of conferences and round tables focused on the globalisation of the international tourist, emerging and mature real estate markets. It will do so in collaboration with the National Association of Realtors (NAR) and the Conseil européen des Professions immobilières (CEPI).
SIMA´s International Programme is held at the environment of SIMA which with more than 160 000 visitors, 800 exhibitors from 28 different countries and 100 000 m² of exhibiting area is the largest worldwide real estate exhibition. This programme will bring developers, brokers, agents, legal advisors, real estate consultants and investors from more than 50 markets to Madrid, and will analyse business opportunities in many parts of Europe and abroad.
CEPI has become a key partner in the internationalisation of SIMA which it considers a major forum for its 32 national member associations and their 200.000 affiliates, both estate agents and property managers. “SIMA is the main platform of the industry in Europe and offers formidable opportunities to establish contacts”, explains Frans Burgering, Chairman of the CEPI. “SIMA is an important reference for the real estate professionals in Europe, and even outside Europe. It gives people from all around Europe opportunities to meet, to learn from each other’s experiences and to do business. The cross border market in Europe is developing steadily and although the European regulator does not yet intend to properly regulate this market, we should support every initiative that helps professionals and more specifically small and medium sized businesses to enter it”.
“The main goal of SIMA´s International programme is to offer a professional environment that creates business and networking opportunities” explains Santiago Herreros de Tejada, SIMA´s International Director. “Therefore, the International Professional Programme will be co-organised with CEPI and focus on the second homes markets and emerging markets. In last years we experienced an increased interest for northern European markets. Many investors, mainly in residential real estate, come from this region and developers need to better understand how they make business. But these markets are important also for another reason. An important number of young and fast growing companies from Spain, Italy, Ireland look at opportunities to invest in real estate, not just in Eastern Europe, but also in regions and countries like Germany, the Benelux and Scandinavia”.
SIMA is an excellent platform for professionals to meet directly with developers from more than 28 countries who are looking for opportunities to establish new sales networks abroad. It is a perfect place for professionals who want to attract investments to their local markets. Several networking hours will be organized at SIMA´s International Business Center (IBC), where people will be able to network and contact with colleagues and associations from more than 50 markets. The first afternoon of the program, for example, will focus more specifically on both Europe and the Mediterranean area.
In 2008, SIMA will for the first time host a European stand, managed by CEPI and its Spanish members CGCAFE and AEGI. It will be open to all CEPI member associations and be a point of reference for those who are looking for help, information, contacts and introductions. For the first time, CEPI and SIMA08 also offer to organise some visits to real estate developments. As for CGCAFE, the Spanish association of property managers, it will organise an event at SIMA at the occasion of its 40th anniversary.
register now
Agenda General Assemblies
Events
CEPI
The member associations of EPAG welcome the Icelandic federation of estate agents as a new member of CEPI. It was with unanimity that, at the November General Assembly in Helsinki, EPAG welcomed the Icelandic association Félag Fasteignasala as a member. Iceland being a country which is a member of EFTA, the association presented its candidature as an associate organisation.
Created in 1983, the association has 250 members and fulfils completely the criteria for admission to EPAG. We welcome the Icelandic professionals. Margrét Olafsdottir will represent the association within CEPI.
For more information, please visit their website www.ff.is.
The 2008 work programme confirms CEPI's ambition to position itself as a fully representative European resource, and to develop actions which contribute to structure and influence the evolution of services and property marketsIn 2006 and 2007, CEPI discussed and/or adopted policy and educational work programmes. In 2008, CEPI will put those programmes into effect in collaboration with its association members, through a series of concrete projects representing an added value for the 200,000 professionals in the network. Communication efforts will have as their objective raising the reputation of CEPI and facilitating contacts between professionals and professional associations in Europe.
Policy work is and remains at the centre of the network's priorities. With an enlarged staff and with the active contribution of ten or so member associations, CEPI pursues its efforts to put in place a permanent policy and legal watch. As in 2007, it will pay particular attention to the putting into effect of the Directives on Services and Recognition of Professional Qualifications, as well as to questions linked to the environment and energy.
Self-regulation initiatives receive particular attention. Amongst them, we are committed to exploiting the code of ethics that the network has recently developed; this includes standards relating to the qualifications of professionals as well as professional services to clients.
Three educational projects are already included in the 2008 programme. CEPI intends to develop the Eureduc programme and, with its educational programme, it will develop a common certificate for students who follow the programme successfully. However, particular attention will be reserved for the continual training of professionals. Information and training seminars will be put in place and tested for those who wish to work on regional and cross-border transactions. By means of certain educational establishments linked to member associations of CEPI, we will develop also modules of European education and also attempt to respond to a growing demand on the part of professionals.
Information bulletins, an international congress organised by CIB and CEPI in October 2008 in Gent (Belgium), and joint approaches by several member associations to the European Parliament must be seen as priority tools of communication with a view to promoting exchanges and debates between professionals, member associations and the representatives of the European institutions on the subjects treated. Not forgetting collaboration by CEPI with the organisers of the property fair at Madrid (SIMA), which has as its objective to give it a full European dimension. As to CEPI's new website, it aims to become the reflection of the cross-border and European involvement of its member associations, and to develop as a platform and meeting place for information of common interest.
CEPI has as its mission to develop as a full European network. It also falls to it to develop services which reinforce professional practices like those mentioned above. Other services, new ones, must also improve knowledge of markets. Several new initiatives are actively being formed and we have decided to make a success of a first project as from 2008. We will inform you about these initiatives as soon as possible.
CEPI is putting online its new internet site. More user-friendly, more ambitious, more in keeping with CEPI's style, it offers more services and information
The new website wishes to reflect the true cross-border and European involvement of its member associations, and presents itself as a platform and meeting place for information of common interest. A system of references and links wishes to give the reader access to national as well as European information.
Certain headings are completely new. We hope in this way to respond to the needs of our member associations and the different parties involved in property in Europe. We intend to consolidate and develop these headings on a regular basis.
For member associations and their representatives within CEPI a reserved area is in the course of construction. It will offer a more detailed level of information, access to documents useful or confidential, and the possibility to transfer data.
Visit the website; give us your reactions and suggestions.
Legislation and Regulations Directive on Services
The European Commission's Directorate-General for Internal Market and Services has published on its internet site a handbook on the implementation of the Services Directive. The Directive was adopted on 12 December 2006 and will have to be implemented by Member States three years after its publication, i.e. by 28 December 2009, at the latest. According to the European Commission the handbook is of no binding legal value but is intended to give assistance to Member States in the task of implementing the Directive. However it does clarify some of the terms of the Directive. In particular "non-economic" services (i.e. services which are not performed for an economic consideration) of general interest are not covered by the Directive. Services which must respect the rules imposed are in principle those which are not explicitly excluded, but it should be noted that the list of services covered includes real estate services.
Because this is an important topic of interest to our member associations a fuller summary of our comments on the handbook will shortly be made available on the website.
Regulated ProfessionsDirective 2005/36/EC on the recognition of professional qualifications establishes rules according to which the professions regulated under the general system (as opposed to specific sectors) benefit from a right of mutual recognition. A profession is said to be regulated when access to it is subject by legal, regulatory or administrative provisions to the possession of a specific qualification.
The professions are listed in a database available on the website of DG Internal Market. Details about the regulated professions are available for each Member State in which the profession is regulated (although not as yet for some of the newer Member States). Interestingly, statistics are also available for the outcome of applications for recognition of qualifications in different Member States. Included in the list are details for the profession real estate agent/real estate agency manager/administrator/director, and we may look at the comparisons between different countries. For example, it is interesting to make a comparison between Austria and Belgium, being two countries for which detailed statistics are available. In Austria the practice of the profession of immobilienmakler is subject to possession of a diploma, as it is in Belgium. In Austria, over the period 1997-2004 (being the period for which statistics are available), in respect of applications from the holders of German qualifications, the decisions recorded include three positive automatic, six positive after test, eighteen negative automatic, and four applications which are still being examined. For the same period of time, in respect of applications from Italy, two are being examined.
For Belgium, over the same period of years, many more applications were made, but, for example, for applications from France, there were twenty eight positive automatic, five positive after training, twelve negative automatic, five appeals, two applications being examined and two undergoing a training period. In respect of applications from the Netherlands to work in Belgium, there were seventy one positive automatic, twelve after a test, one positive after training, twenty three negative automatic, seven negative after a test, two appeals and nineteen undergoing a training period. No further information is given on the site as to the procedure followed or reasons for decisions made. We are interested in finding out more about difficulties experienced by real estate professionals in having their qualifications recognized in different Member States and would like to gather information from our member associations concerning this. Accordingly this is a topic which we will be pursuing further in 2008.
European Qualifications Framework The European Qualifications Framework (EQF) is intended to be a reference system to allow comparison between qualifications awarded in different Member States, consisting of eight reference levels each corresponding to a different level of knowledge, skills and competences achieved through education and training. The EQF encompasses general and adult education, vocational education and training and higher education. It is intended that qualifications awarded in EU countries will state which EQF level they correspond to, level 1 corresponding to qualifications achieved at the end of compulsory education and level 8 matching those achieved at the highest level of education and training. The Recommendation of the European Commission, which has been approved by the European Parliament, foresees that Member States relate their national qualifications systems to the EQF by 2010, and that individual certificates or diplomas should bear an EQF reference by 2012. The EQF is already influencing the development of National Qualification Frameworks in many Member States, and is expected to be formally adopted in early 2008. For your diary
Professionals from more than 50 countries will join the real estate fair of Madrid (SIMA) and its International Programme in April 2008. CEPI will be present.
On April 9 to 11, the Madrid International Real Estate Exhibition (SIMA) will hold a vast program of conferences and round tables focused on the globalisation of the international tourist, emerging and mature real estate markets. It will do so in collaboration with the National Association of Realtors (NAR) and the Conseil européen des Professions immobilières (CEPI).
SIMA´s International Programme is held at the environment of SIMA which with more than 160 000 visitors, 800 exhibitors from 28 different countries and 100 000 m² of exhibiting area is the largest worldwide real estate exhibition. This programme will bring developers, brokers, agents, legal advisors, real estate consultants and investors from more than 50 markets to Madrid, and will analyse business opportunities in many parts of Europe and abroad.
CEPI has become a key partner in the internationalisation of SIMA which it considers a major forum for its 32 national member associations and their 200.000 affiliates, both estate agents and property managers. “SIMA is the main platform of the industry in Europe and offers formidable opportunities to establish contacts”, explains Frans Burgering, Chairman of the CEPI. “SIMA is an important reference for the real estate professionals in Europe, and even outside Europe. It gives people from all around Europe opportunities to meet, to learn from each other’s experiences and to do business. The cross border market in Europe is developing steadily and although the European regulator does not yet intend to properly regulate this market, we should support every initiative that helps professionals and more specifically small and medium sized businesses to enter it”.
“The main goal of SIMA´s International programme is to offer a professional environment that creates business and networking opportunities” explains Santiago Herreros de Tejada, SIMA´s International Director. “Therefore, the International Professional Programme will be co-organised with CEPI and focus on the second homes markets and emerging markets. In last years we experienced an increased interest for northern European markets. Many investors, mainly in residential real estate, come from this region and developers need to better understand how they make business. But these markets are important also for another reason. An important number of young and fast growing companies from Spain, Italy, Ireland look at opportunities to invest in real estate, not just in Eastern Europe, but also in regions and countries like Germany, the Benelux and Scandinavia”.
SIMA is an excellent platform for professionals to meet directly with developers from more than 28 countries who are looking for opportunities to establish new sales networks abroad. It is a perfect place for professionals who want to attract investments to their local markets. Several networking hours will be organized at SIMA´s International Business Center (IBC), where people will be able to network and contact with colleagues and associations from more than 50 markets. The first afternoon of the program, for example, will focus more specifically on both Europe and the Mediterranean area.
In 2008, SIMA will for the first time host a European stand, managed by CEPI and its Spanish members CGCAFE and AEGI. It will be open to all CEPI member associations and be a point of reference for those who are looking for help, information, contacts and introductions. For the first time, CEPI and SIMA08 also offer to organise some visits to real estate developments. As for CGCAFE, the Spanish association of property managers, it will organise an event at SIMA at the occasion of its 40th anniversary.
register now
Agenda General Assemblies
|
February |
||
| 15 | CEPI Board | Bruxelles - Belgique |
|
March |
||
| 6-7 | CEPI - EPAG - CEAB Boards |
Bruxelles - Belgique |
|
April |
||
| 16 | EDA | København - Danmark |
| krj@ejendomsforeningen.dk | ||
|
May |
||
| 5-6 | CEPI - CEAB - EPAG | København - Danmark |
| 15-16 | SKVL | |
| jukka.malila@skvl.fi | ||
| 22-23 | DE Annual Meeting | |
| ea@de.dk | ||
| 30 | FNAIM | |
| criss@fnaim.fr | ||
| November | ||
| 7 ou 14 | SKVL | |
| jukka.malila@skvl.fi | ||
| 19-22 | "M" Annual Convention | Malmö - Sverige |
| the.association@maklarsamfundet.se | ||
| décembre | ||
| 7 | FNAIM | |
| criss@fnaim.fr |
|
January |
||
| 25 | IAVI Conference | Dun Laoghaire - Ireland |
| Valerie@iavi.ie | ||
| April | ||
| 8-12 | SIMA08 | Madrid - España |
|
International Professional Programme (collaboration CEPI) |
||
| http://ipp.simaexpo.com/cepi | ||
|
June |
||
| 5-7 | XV congreso nacional de Administradores de fincas | Barcelona - España |
| secretaria@cgcafe.es | ||
|
September |
||
| RealEast 2008 | ||
| miknem@citromail.hu | ||
|
October |
||
|
9-10 |
congrès CIB - CEPI | Gent - België |
|
|
info@cib.be | |
|
December |
||
|
8-9 |
62è congrès FNAIM |
|
|
|
criss@fnaim.fr |
|
January |
||
| 18 | Presidents' meeting |
|
| 21 | Meeting F. Burgering and R. Pallincourt | Paris |
| 30 | Presence of F. Burgering, Y. Boussard, X. Ortegat at the CEI conference |
Bruxelles |
|
February |
||
| 13 | PTC Policy | Bruxelles |
| 15 | CEPI Board |
Bruxelles |
| 29 | Presidents' meeting |
|
| March | ||
| 6 | Audit of the accounts |
Bruxelles |
| 7 | Board of the 3 associations |
Bruxelles |