HARMONIZATION OF SALES LAW IN THE EUROPEAN UNION

Abstract

The Treaty establishing the European Community enshrines the free movement of capital as a fundamental freedom. It is intended to remove all restrictions on the movement of capital so that European citizens may take full advantage of the single market. The free movement of capital in EU covers much more than payments and transfers of money over the borders. It covers transfers of ownership of assets and liabilities and also the investments in companies and real estate. With the successive accession of new Member States to the EU, transitional periods and some exception were negotiated for the free movement of capital. These concern to a limited extant, the purchase of property in the new Member States that has joined the Union until 2004 (Cyprus, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia, Malta Bulgaria and Romania), but is also true of Denmark and Finland.