Real estate fund specialists interested in becoming members of the group are invited to apply by 27 April 2007. The Commission will publish the final composition of the group before 30 May 2007. The creation of this group is a follow-up action to the Commission White Paper on enhancing the EU framework for investment funds.
Internal Market and Services Commissioner Charlie McCreevy said: "Open-ended real estate funds are widely available to retail investors in several Member States. But they are locked up in their national markets – they cannot be sold across borders. I am creating this expert group to look at this situation and to advise on whether there is any clear-cut case for EU action in this area. I have an open mind on this issue. The group's work will feed into our broader review of the state of integration for non-harmonised funds, where are scheduled to issue a report in mid-2008."
Tasks of the expert group
The expert group will produce a report at the start of 2008 that will provide important input to policy reflection and serve as a starting point for debate and discussion with Member State authorities and other stakeholders. The report will not be considered as necessarily reflecting the views of the Commission.
The group's task will be to advise the Commission on the risk and performance characteristics of open-ended real estate funds, and to:
* Describe the European market for real estate funds, including open-ended funds;
* Analyse the existing or likely future demand for providing open-ended real estate funds across borders;
* Examine the barriers to cross-border development of open-ended real estate funds;
* Evaluate existing national regulatory (including tax) approaches to open-ended real estate funds.
