Towards a European law of property?

Abstract

Even among their own brethren, property lawyers are known for the somewhat insular attitude they adopt to the issue of the extent to which legal systems in different countries may have similar or unifying elements. Admittedly, this may be less true in the case of lawyers steeped in the Code Napoleon and the civil law tradition than those from a common law background but it remains a factor nevertheless. In the same way - and often claiming support not only from the Treaties of Rome and Maastricht but pronouncements of the various organs of the EU itself- these same property lawyers will see the competence of the European Union to deal with legal issues involving land and property as at best extremely limited. Whether this view is true and accurate is a matter of major significance, not only to states who are members at present but also states like Malta who are considering entering the Union under the present round of enlargement and indeed, that admittedly possibly small number of states who may still remain outside the boundaries of the Union in the future. This paper examines the extent to which and on what evidence, states of the European Union can be said already to possess or could, by legislation and other means move towards a single or unified system of property regulation and rights.