RICS launches EU manifesto calling for higher standards

The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) has launched a manifesto urging the new European Parliament to focus on better regulation and higher standards in its efforts to consolidate a sustainable built environment and improve the quality of life for its citizens.

With this manifesto, RICS wants to encourage the future European Parliament to take further action to improve transparency and implement higher standards in all aspects of the European property sector where citizens live and work. Underlining the crucial contribution of the European Parliament to the future of the European Union and its decision-making processes, RICS’ manifesto is addressed to all future members of the EU Parliament from all 27 member states.

In particular, the organisation is looking forward to working closely with MEPs for the next parliamentary term on the importance of valuation standards on the road towards economic recovery; the creation of a more sustainable built environment in Europe; the vital role of housing and urban matters on the European agenda.

The manifesto places special emphasis on the necessity to incorporate ethics and international property valuation principles into practice at EU level, and to encourage European citizens to invest in energy-efficient measures, especially in existing buildings, to come out of the current crisis.

Ursula Hartenberger, RICS Head of EU Public Affairs, commented: 'The current economic crisis and the challenges with regard to climate change, which are closely linked, show that our old model of thinking is no longer working. What we need now is a radical shift in how financial and property markets are controlled and how true value is established.

She added: 'We cannot look at these issues from a purely national, isolationist point of view. They are cross-border issues that affect all member states and therefore must be dealt with at EU level. The new European Parliament has to find pragmatic, long-term solutions, not only for the next legislative period but also beyond.'