McCreevy green light for the first EU mortgage
Tuesday December 14 2004
"A mortgage is the biggest purchase most consumers make. So we must not shrink from the challenge of creating a true single market for home loans," said Mr McCreevy in his first announcement since becoming Internal Market Commissioner.
He was commenting on a report which calls for reform of the home loans sector throughout the EU to take away the pitfalls of borrowing abroad and give consumers more choice and cheaper mortgages.
"The Commission should explore the concept of the Euromortgage to assess its potential to promote EU mortgage credit markets integration," it says.
Although the EU's single market theoretically removed barriers, financial industries have managed to avoid opening up to competition and have protected national markets.
At the moment, just 1pc of all Europeans get their mortgage in another country, according to the report by the Commission-appointed Forum Group on Mortgage Credit.
It makes 48 recommendations it says would boost consumer confidence to go for the best mortgage deal anywhere in the EU.
"An efficient single market could mean cheaper and better loans for all Europeans, " said Mr Creevy.
- Conor Sweeneyin Brussels
