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At the moment, there are many differences in EU mortgage markets. The most important ones to tackle, to enable lenders to operate in different member states, are the huge variations in access to credit data about borrowers, land registration systems, and mechanisms to take possession of property. Yet these are not the areas on which the Commission appears to be primarily focusing at present.
The cost-benefit analysis undertaken for the Commission by London Economics indicated that the UK would be the only net 'loser' among EU member states from the raft of mooted integration measures. To make integration worthwhile as far the UK is concerned, the Commission needs to concentrate on funding and market issues at least as much as on consumer aspects.
The CML's Director General Michael Coogan commented :
'Successful integration will not be driven by consumer demand nor by harmonised consumer protection measures. But, there is an important role for the European Commission to promote measures to improve national and cross-national co-operation on legal and collateral issues.'