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27European Contract LawThe Common Frame of Reference (CFR) is a long-termproject which aims at providing the European legislators(Commission, Council and European Parliament) with a‘toolbox’ or a handbook to be used to revise and prepareexisting and new legislation in contract law.In 2004-05, UEPC was closely involved in thestakeholder think-tank.In July 2007 the European Commission published theSecond Progress Report on theCommon Frame of Reference.Flood Risk Management - 2007/60/ECThe Directive on the Assessment and Management ofFlood Risks entered into force on 26 November 2007.This directive requires Member States to assess whetherwater courses and coastlines are at risk from flooding,to map the flood extent and assets and humans at riskin these areas, and to take adequate and coordinatedmeasures to reduce this flood risk.The deadline for implementation is 26 November 2009In 2004-05, UEPC sent comments on this directive toEU officials. UEPC will now monitor the implementationof the directive in the various Member States.European Housing CharterThe European Parliament’s URBAN-Housing Intergroupadopted a European Charter on Housing on April 26.Housing is not a European Union responsibility in thestrict sense, but policies developed and supported bythe European Union do have an impact. The charter callsfor structural fund eligibility for the renovation of socialhousing. The document will now be discussed by theEuropean Parliament’s Regional Policy Committee.This charter ended up in a European Parliament resolutionbased on the own-initiative report drafted by AlfonsoAndria on housing and regional policy and adopted inJune 2007. The European Parliament resolution statedthat the lack of decent housing at affordable pricesdirectly affected the lives of citizens, restricting their optionsfor social integration. Many European Union citieswere experiencing great problems with housing, such asoverabundant or insufficient supply, homelessness, andbuildings in a bad state of repair. In addition,the combination of low incomes, high energy prices,and inadequate heating and insulation systems results inenergy poverty.UEPC commented extensively on the charter and,among other points, noted that the preamble shouldmention that the charter concerns all housing, whetherprivately or publicly built, and whether or not it receivesstate aid.Housing for Senior CitizensOn the initiative of Mr Heiming, representative of theGerman federation BFW, a questionnaire was launchedin 2006 to learn more about the changing needs ofsenior citizens in relation to housing and the differencesin this area between the various Member States.This resulted in an extensive and comprehensive survey,which was completed at the end of 2007.A preliminary presentation of the study was made at theBetter Life Time Conference in June 2007 in Brussels.The study is a useful instrument for developers focusingon Senior Citizens’ facilities within the European marketand will be launched officially at the UEPC meetings inBrussels in April 2008.Proposal for a Time Share Directive -Com (2007)0303In June 2007 a new proposal or Directive on the Protectionof Consumers in Respect of Certain Aspects ofTimeshare, Long-term Holiday Products, Resale, andExchange was launched by the European Commission torevise the 1994 directive.UEPC reacted to the directive in 1994. However, becausethis was an item of indirect interest, members decidedthat, rather than actively influencing the new proposal,it would be best to keep a watchful eye on the progressin this area.Mortgage Credit – White Paper SEC(2007) 1683On 17 December 2007 the European Commissionpublished a White Paper on the Integration ofEU Mortgage Markets. The white paper summarises theconclusions of a comprehensive review of Europeanresidential mortgage markets and presents a balanced