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CRUCIAL DECISION FOR A BETTER RENTAL PROPERTY MARKET
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The Real Estate Council of the Netherlands – Raad voor Onroerende Zaken (ROZ) joins the European Property Federation
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ALTERNATIVE INVESTMENT FUND MANAGERS DIRECTIVE: Problems with scope and possible solutions raised at meeting with Commission
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STRICTER CRITERIA FOR PROPERTY LOANS UNDER THE CAPITAL REQUIREMENTS DIRECTIVE: EPF Position : Largely negative EPF response to the Commission Consultation
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REVISION OF THE INSURANCE MEDIATION DIRECTIVE: Landlords targeted.
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EU INITIATIVES ON LIABILITY AND INSURANCE REGIMES IN THE CONSTRUCTION SECTOR: EPF response to the Elios Report
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EPF ACTIVITY: 2009 Annual Report
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EPF EU REAL ESTATE POLICY CHART: Overview of EU Real Estate Policy and EPF activity
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EU ECOLABEL FOR BUILDINGS: Major problems with the Commission Ad Hoc Working Group’s 2nd draft criteria for the award of the ecolabel
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COUNCIL RECOMMENDATION ON SMOKE-FREE ENVIRONMENTS: No tolerance for designated smoking areas. Owner/manager responsibilities. Penalties.
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EU LEGISLATION ON DERIVATIVES MARKETS: Would cover real estate interest rate hedging
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NEW EU URBAN POLICY AND EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT INTERGROUP: New Commissioner announces new EU urban policy and 69 MEPs launch URBAN Intergroup
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EQUAL TREATMENT DIRECTIVE: Very badly thought out measures for the identification and elimination of barriers to accessibility for the disabled in housing and other buildings
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COMMISSION CONSTRUCTION POLICY INITIATIVES IMPACTING EPF: 1) Construction Competitiveness, 2) Liability and Insurance Regimes in the Construction Sector, 3) EU Construction Information Platform
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TREATY OF LISBON: Impacts EU real estate policy in many ways
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The European Property Federation welcomes the new Energy Performance of Buildings Directive as a step change in the greening of the European building stock |
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Liz Peace, Chairman of the EPF Managing Committee, said “Amid all the ‘green noise’, EU law is the real thing because it’s binding on all member states. The first EPBD was a revolution, and this one is too because now the Directive’s energy efficiency renovation requirements extend to the entire building stock, not just buildings over 1000m˛, and all new build will have to be nearly zero-energy by 2020.”
Peace added “We are particularly pleased that the European Parliament took up our request and fought successfully to provide for the development of a common EU energy performance certification scheme for commercial build. There already have to be energy performance certificates (EPCs) in all member states, but that’s not much use to an investor who wants to advertise globally that, say, his new shopping centre development in Rotterdam is 20% more energy efficient than the EU ‘A’ grade. To be able to do that, there needs to be an EU ‘A’ grade.”
Michael MacBrien, EPF Director General, said “The quality of the EPCs is crucial, and that’s been a problem in most countries. EPF worked hard to get provisions improving EPC quality and I think the future will show that one of the Directive’s most important innovations is the requirement for the EPC’s energy performance indicator to appear in all advertising whenever the building is offered for sale or rent. I think that sellers forced to advertise on the basis of shoddy certificates will become a ground force in favour of better quality certification.”
Peace and MacBrien concluded “This could never have been achieved without a powerful property coalition. Two years cooperation by EPF, the European Landowners’ Organization (ELO), The European Group of Valuers Associations (TEGoVA) and the Union of European Historic Houses Associations (UEHHA) really paid off.”
London and Brussels, 16 July 2010
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