CEPI asbl (Conseil européen des Professions immobilières), EPAG asbl (European Property Agents Group)

Summary of the initiative

Name
CEPI asbl (Conseil européen des Professions immobilières), EPAG asbl (European Property Agents Group)
Website(s)
http://www.cepi.be
Objective(s)
Real estate professionals shall conduct their business activities in a way that is transparent, and ensure that they respect all applicable legal provisions, all codes of conduct to which they have adhered, the confidentiality of personal data and intellectual property rights. They shall respect their commitments and ensure that the information they provide is accurate and that the procedures used for concluding contracts and making payment are secure. The level of protection offered to clients pursuant to these principles shall be equivalent to that which such clients would enjoy in the framework of traditional transactions. Real estate professionals can only guarantee to satisfy in full their commitments, if clients communicate complete and correct information to them.

Description of the Initiative

Sector

Sector

Commission DG
Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs DG: GROW
Contact Point - Commission
GROW E1

Self/Co-Regulation Basic Act

LEGISLATIVE ACT
Year
2000
Title of Act
Directive 2000/31/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 8 June 2000 on certain legal aspects of information society services, in particular electronic commerce, in the Internal Market (Directive on electronic commerce); Official Journal L 178, 17/07/2000, p. 1-16.
Review, Revision or Sunset Clause Year
2003
PRIVATE ACT
Year
2002
Title of Act
Code of conduct for real estate professionals in the field of e-commerce

Geographical Coverage

Global coverage
Less than EU + third countries
Participating Countries
Austria

Description

Problems that lead to the introduction of Self/Co-Regulation and the adoption of the Founding Act
Since in some countries, there are more or less restrictive regulations, in others there are even outdated ones. Therefore the activities of property agents and managers require increasingly more rigour, professionalism, in-depth knowledge in areas as varied as law, taxation, insurance, economics, accounting, building technologies, sociology, financing mechanisms, information technology, town planning, regional planning, etc. Furthermore, this knowledge must be constantly updated by continuing training. As a result, a non-negligible number of players in the property sector may not have all the guarantees needed to protect the consumer.
Target Group(s)
Real estate professionals (property agents and property managers).
Type of Instrument(s)
Code of conduct.
Level(s) at which private rules should be defined and applied
EU,
Member state
Type of Financing
-
Type of Monitoring
Conduct an initial survey of compliance capacity of future regulateesConduct regular visits and spot checksInitiate complaints proceduresMaintain database of those bounded by the normsProduce regular reportsReceive complaints and verify if norms were breached or notReflexive dialogue with the - stakeholdersOther
European Commission
National public authority
International public authority
Private regulator (code owner)yesyesyes
Private independent party with a mandate (e.g. auditors)
Self-appointed private parties (e.g. NGOs)
Succinct description of the type of Monitoring
A European Chamber of Arbitration, Mediation and Discipline (ECAMD) is to be established in CEPI, with its registered office in the premises of CEPI. Any and all disputes of a professional nature between one or more members of CEPI or one or more third parties may be referred to the ECAMD, provided that said third parties petition or accept the arbitral court. The ECAMD shall sit as a Chamber of Discipline at the request of a member of the Professional Association, a third party, or the professional association itself, for: Offences or violations of the bylaws and of the code of ethics of CEPI; Offences or torts for which a director of CEPI is accused in the performance of his duties.
Type of Enforcement
Faming, shaming and blamingJudicial sanctionsMembership suspension/exclusionPrivate finesOther
Private Regulatoryes
Private independent party with a mandate (e.g. auditors)
Court system
Alternative dispute resolution (ADR) / Online dispute resolution (ODR)
Succinct description of the type of Enforcement
The Chamber of Discipline may meet out the following penalties: Warning, Rebuke, Reprimand, Disciplinary suspension, Proposed expulsion and Preventive suspension.

Results of Commission Monitoring

Link / Reference of Evaluation
-

Downloads

SMO self- and co-regulation database - private code 74
pdf
EN