Coalition prepares to pitch EU-REIT to Brussels

The coalition lobbying for a single European real estate investment trust (EU-REIT) intends to lodge its proposal with the European Commission in Brussels in the next few months. Coalition chairman Joaquim Ribeiro, who is also finance director at Portuguese shopping centre specialist Sonae Sierra, told PropertyEU that the final touches are currently being made to the blueprint for a common European REIT regime.

The coalition was established by the European Proeprty Federation, various national property federations, the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors and the Urban Land Institute in Barcelona following a planning meeting held at Barcelona Meeting Point two years ago. The blueprint is based on an academic study published last year into the effectiveness of a pan-European tax-transparent model to further cross-border activity in the real estate sector.

'The main objective is to stimulate equal treatment for domestic and international investors, both direct and indirect property owners in Europe,' Ribeiro told PropertyEU’s Web TV unit on the second day of Barcelona Meeting Point 2008. 'We believe a common REIT regime will lead to an increased level of cross-border investment, effectively creating a European market for property. A bigger market is always better for property companies'.

However, EPRA, the European association of listed property companies in Europe, has declined to back the coalition. Instead, EPRA has launched a discussion paper which it says offers a blueprint for facilitating more effective cross-border investment into, and by, European real estate investment trusts (REITs). The authors seek to create a more even playing field for cross-border investment involving the existing REIT structures in various European countries and to push for countries without such a regime to introduce a national REIT.

Click on the link below to watch the interview.