Regulacja prawna timesharingu w wybranych państwach europejskich
Authors: Romanowska Marta 
Published: December 2020

Timeshare is a part of the process of satisfying consumer needs through the use of material goods and services. Timeshare means touristic, cyclic use of things in a concrete period of time over many years. Consumer acquires the timeshare right under a contract of a consumer character. This right is regulated at EU level and is a supranational legal relationship, when it usually involves entities from different countries. Timesharing is a legal institution which is regulated by the Directive 2008/122/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 14 January 2009 on the protection of consumers in respect of certain aspects of timeshare, long-term holiday product, resale and exchange contracts. The purpose of the Directive according to the article 1.1 is to contribute to the proper functioning of the internal market and to achieve a high level of consumer protection, by approximating the laws, regulations and administrative provisions of the Member States in respect of certain aspects of the marketing, sale and resale of timeshares contracts. Directive is without prejudice to national legislation which: provides for general contract law remedies, relates to the registration of immovable or movable property and conveyance of immovable property, relates to conditions of establishment or authorisation regimes or licensing requirements, and relates to the determination of the legal nature of the rights which are the subject of the contracts covered by this Directive. Under the definition set out in the Directive „timeshare contract” means a contract of a duration of more than one year under which a consumer, for consideration, acquires the right to use one or more overnight accommodation for more than one period of occupation. While the Directive does not determine the legal nature of the rights which are the subject of the timeshare contracts, in the practise of Member States, there are a lot of different legal timesharing structures like inter partes or in rem ones, trust, etc. Such situation does not help in consumer protection. The timeshare Directive was transposed to the legal systems of the Members States without significant changes. As the domestic legislation after the Directive does not determine the character of the timeshare right, the constructions of it are created with some specification of a common law system, german one as well as a roman culture. In England and in Spain the most popular timeshare construction used in practice is club-trustee, while in France there is a société d’attribution and Dauerwohnrecht in Germany. Timeshare is prepared for holiday use and is associated with tourist services. It represents a preferred alternative to purchase things as a legal owner, because only performs the function of consumption and aims to provide pleasure to the consumer lessee. The law is carried out by many consumers, although at a specific time they are entitled to exclusive use of one of them. Timeshare usage allows for real use of things without exercising the duties of taking care of thing, pay in respect of its ownership taxes, or making a repair. That is why it became such a success in tourism and in the same time while not functioning in the similar structure it is not clear institution for a potential consumer.