Brussels, 06/12/2007 (Agence Europe) - A White Paper on mortgage lending will be published towards the end of the year, probably on Wednesday 19 December, with proposals to ensure greater diversity in terms of financial products and an appropriate level of consumer protection, explained EU Single Market Commissioner Charlie McCreevy on Tuesday 4 December at a conference organised by the French think tank EUROFI. He said that he did not believe that at this stage a directive would provide the necessary value added to justify legislation, recommending that work should continue in this field before any final decision were taken.
A provisional version of the White Paper on mortgage lending recommended, however, the option o f proposing a directive on consumer protection issues like pre-contractual information, annual percentage of charges, early repayment and responsible earning. The mortgage industry says that harmonisation should not be achieved by harmonising consumer protection rules because very few consumers (barely 1%) take out mortgages from another country. The White Paper will also recommend the drawing up of recommendations to the member states on obstacles limiting the supply of cross-border mortgages in order to facilitate lenders' cross-border operations. The recommendations would cover non discriminatory access to land registers, transparency and security of national enforcement procedures.