COMMON POSITION (EC) No 10/94 adopted by the Council on 4 March 1994 with a view to adopting a European Parliament and Council Directive 94/. . ./EC of . . . on the protection of purchasers in respect of certain aspects of contracts relating to the purchase of the right to use immovable properties on a timeshare basis (94/C 137/05)

THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in particular Article 100a thereof,

Having regard to the proposal from the Commission (1),

Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and Social Committee (2),

Acting in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 189b of the Treaty,

1. Whereas the disparities between national legislations on contracts relating to the purchase of the right to use one or more immovable properties on a timeshare basis are likely to create barriers to the proper operation of the internal market and distortions of competition and lead to the compartmentalization of national markets;

2. Whereas the aim of this Directive is to establish a minimum basis of common rules on such matters which will make it possible to ensure that the internal market operates properly and will thereby protect purchasers; whereas it is sufficient for those rules to cover contractual transactions only with regard to those aspects that relate to information on the constituent parts of contracts, the arrangements for communicating such information and the procedures and arrangements for cancellation and withdrawal; whereas the appropriate instrument to achieve that aim is a Directive; whereas this Directive is therefore consistent with the principle of subsidiarity;

3. Whereas the legal nature of the rights which are the subject of the contracts covered by this Directive varies considerably from one Member State to another; whereas reference should therefore be made in summary form to those variations, giving a sufficiently broad definition of such contracts, without thereby implying harmonization within the Community of the legal nature of the rights in question;

4. Whereas this Directive is not designed to regulate the extent to which contracts for the use of one or more immovable properties on a timeshare basis may be concluded in Member States or the legal bases for such contracts;

5. Whereas, in practice, contracts relating to the purchase of the right to use one or more immovable properties on a timeshare basis differ from tenancy agreements; whereas that difference can be seen from, inter alia, the means of payment;

6. Whereas it may be seen from the market that hotels, residential hotels and other similar residential tourist premises are involved in contractual transactions similar to those which have made this Directive necessary;

7. Whereas it is necessary to avoid any misleading or incomplete details in information concerned specifically with the sale of the rights to use one or more immovable properties on a timeshare basis; whereas such information should be supplemented by a document which must be made available to anyone who requests it; whereas the information therein must constitute part of the contract for the purchase of the right to use one or more immovable properties on a timeshare basis;

8. Whereas, in order to give purchasers a high level of protection and in view of the specific characteristics of systems for using immovable properties on a timeshare basis, contracts for the purchase of the right to use one or more immovable properties on a timeshare basis must include certain minimal items;

9. Whereas, with a view to establishing effective protection for purchasers in this field, it is necessary to stipulate minimum obligations with which vendors must comply vis-à-vis purchasers;

10. Whereas the contract for the purchase of the right to use one or more immovable properties on a timeshare basis must be drawn up in the official language or one of the official languages of the Member State in which the purchaser is resident or in the official language or one of the official languages of the Member State of which he is a national which must be one of the official languages of the Community; whereas, however, the Member State in which the purchaser is resident may require that the contract be drawn up in its language or its languages which must be an official language or official languages of the Community; whereas provision should be made for a certified translation of each contract for the purposes of the formalities to be completed in the Member State in which the relevant property is situated;

11. Whereas to give the purchaser the chance to realize more fully what his obligations and rights under the contract are, he should be allowed a period during which he may withdraw from the contract without giving reasons since the property in question is often situated in a State and subject to legislation which are different from his own;

12. Whereas the requirement on the vendor's part that advance payments be made before the end of the period during which the purchaser may withdraw without giving reasons may reduce the purchaser's protection; whereas, therefore, advance payments before the end of that period should be prohibited;

13. Whereas in the event of cancellation of or withdrawal from a contract for the purchase of the right to use one or more immovable properties on a timeshare basis the price of which is entirely or partly covered by credit granted to the purchaser by the vendor or by a third party on the basis of an agreement concluded between that third party and the vendor, it should be provided that the credit agreement should be cancelled without penalty;

14. Whereas there is a risk, in certain cases, that the consumer may be deprived of the protection provided for in this Directive if the law of a non-Member State is specified as the law applicable to the contract; whereas this Directive should therefore include provisions intended to obviate that risk;

15. Whereas it is for the Member States to adopt measures to ensure that the vendor fulfils his obligations,

HAVE ADOPTED THIS DIRECTIVE:

Article 1

The purpose of this Directive shall be to approximate the laws, regulations and administrative provisions of the Member States on the protection of purchasers in respect of certain aspects of contracts relating directly or indirectly to the purchase of the right to use one or more immovable properties on a timeshare basis.

This Directive shall cover only those aspects of the above provisions concerning contractual transactions that relate to:

- information on the constituent parts of a contract and the arrangements for the communication of that information,

- the procedures and arrangements for cancellation and withdrawal.

With due regard to the general rules of the Treaty, the Member States shall remain competent for other matters, inter alia determination of the legal nature of the rights which are the subject of the contracts covered by this Directive.

Article 2

For the purposes of this Directive:

- 'contract relating directly or indirectly to the purchase of the right to use one or more immovable properties on a timeshare basis', hereinafter referred to as 'contract', shall mean any contract or group of contracts concluded for at least three years under which, directly or indirectly, on payment of a certain global price, a real property right or any other right relating to the use of one or more immovable properties for a specified or specifiable period of the year, which may not be less than one week, is established or is the subject of a transfer or an undertaking to transfer,

- 'immovable property' shall mean any building or part of a building for use as accommodation to which the right which is the subject of the contract relates,

- 'vendor' shall mean any natural or legal person who, acting in transactions covered by this Directive and in his professional capacity, establishes, transfers or undertakes to transfer the right which is the subject of the contract,

- 'purchaser' shall mean any natural person who, acting in transactions covered by this Directive, for purposes which may be regarded as being outwith his professional capacity, has the right which is the subject of the contract transferred to him or for whom the right which is the subject of the contract is established.

Article 3

1. The Member States shall make provision in their legislation for measures to ensure that the vendor is required to provide any person requesting information on the immovable property or properties with a document which, in addition to a general description of the property or properties, shall provide at least brief and accurate information on the particulars referred to in points (a) to (g), (i) and (l) of the Annex and on how further information may be obtained.

2. The Member States shall make provision in their legislation to ensure that all the information referred to in paragraph 1 which must be provided in the document referred to in paragraph 1 forms an integral part of the contract.

Unless the parties expressly agree otherwise, only changes resulting from circumstances beyond the vendor's control may be made to the information provided in the document referred to in paragraph 1.

Any changes to that information shall be communicated to the purchaser before the contract is concluded. The contract shall expressly mention any such changes.

3. Any advertising referring to the immovable property concerned shall indicate the possibility of obtaining the document referred to in paragraph 1 and where it may be obtained.

Article 4

The Member States shall make provision in their legislation to ensure that:

- the contract, which shall be in writing, includes at least the items referred to in the Annex,

- the contract and the document referred to in Article 3 (1) are drawn up in the language or one of the languages of the Member State in which the purchaser is resident or in the language or one of the languages of the Member State of which he is a national which shall be an official language or official languages of the Community, at the purchaser's option. The Member State in which the purchaser is resident may, however, require that the contract be drawn up in all cases in at least its language or languages which must be an official language or official languages of the Community, and

- the vendor provides the purchaser with a certified translation of the contract in the language or one of the languages of the Member State in which the immovable property is situated which shall be an official language or official languages of the Community.

Article 5

The Member States shall make provision in their legislation to ensure that:

1. in addition to the possibilities available to the purchaser under national laws on the nullity of contracts, the purchaser shall have the right:

- if the contract includes the information referred to in points (a), (b), (h), (i), (k) and (l) of the Annex, to withdraw without giving any reason within 10 calendar days of both parties' signing the contract or of both parties' signing a binding preliminary contract. If the 10th day is a public holiday, the period shall be extended to the first working day thereafter,

- if the contract does not include the information referred to in points (a), (b), (h), (i), (k) and (l) of the Annex, at the time of both parties' signing the contract or of both parties' signing a binding preliminary contract, to cancel the contract within three months thereof. If the information in question is provided within those three months, the purchaser's withdrawal period provided for in the first indent, shall then start,

- if by the end of the three-month period provided for in the second indent the purchaser has not exercised the right to cancel and the contract does not include the information referred to in points (a), (b), (h), (i), (k) and (l) of the Annex, to the withdrawal period provided for in the first indent from the day after the end of that three-month period;

2. if the purchaser intends to exercise the rights provided for in paragraph 1 he shall, before the expiry of the relevant deadline, notify the person whose name and address appear in the contract for that purpose by a means which can be proved in accordance with national law in accordance with the procedures specified in the contract pursuant to point (l) of the Annex;

3. where the purchaser exercises the right provided for in the first indent of paragraph 1, he may be required to defray, where appropriate, only those expenses which, in accordance with national law, are incurred as a result of the conclusion of and withdrawal from the contract and which correspond to legal formalities which must be completed before the end of the period referred to in the first indent of paragraph 1. Such expenses shall be expressly mentioned in the contract;

4. where the purchaser exercises the right of cancellation provided for in the second indent of paragraph 1 he shall not be required to make any defrayal.

Article 6

The Member States shall make provision in their legislation to prohibit any advance payments by a purchaser before the end of the period during which he may exercise the right of withdrawal.

Article 7

The Member States shall make provision in their legislation to ensure that:

- if the price is fully or partly covered by credit granted by the vendor, or

- if the price is fully or partly covered by credit granted to the purchaser by a third party on the basis of an agreement between the third party and the vendor,

the credit agreement shall be cancelled, without any penalty, if the purchaser exercises his right to cancel or withdraw from the contract as provided for in Article 5.

The Member States shall lay down detailed arrangements to govern the cancellation of credit agreements.

Article 8

The Member States shall make provision in their legislation to ensure that any clause whereby a purchaser renounces the enjoyment of rights under this Directive or whereby a vendor is freed from the responsibilities arising from this Directive shall not be binding on the purchaser, under conditions laid down by national law.

Article 9

The Member States shall take the measures necessary to ensure that, whatever the law applicable may be, the purchaser is not deprived of the protection afforded by this Directive, if the immovable property concerned is situated within the territory of a Member State.

Article 10

The Member States shall make provision in their legislation for the consequences of non-compliance with this Directive.

Article 11

This Directive shall not prevent Member States from adopting or maintaining provisions which are more favourable as regards the protection of purchasers in the field in question, without prejudice to their obligations under the Treaty.

Article 12

1. The Member States shall bring into force the laws, regulations and administrative provisions necessary for them to comply with this Directive no later than three years after its publication in the Official Journal of the European Communities. They shall immediately inform the Commission thereof.

When Member States adopt those measures, they shall include references to this Directive or shall accompany them with such references on their official publication. The Member States shall lay down the manner in which such references shall be made.

2. The Member States shall communicate to the Commission the texts of the provisions of national law which they adopt in the field governed by this Directive.

Article 13

This Directive is addressed to the Member States.

Done at . . ., . . .

For the European Parliament

The President

For the Council,

The President

(1) OJ No C 299, 5. 11. 1993, p. 8.

(2) OJ No C 108, 19. 4. 1993, p. 1.

ANNEX

Minimum list of items to be included in the contract referred to in Article 4

(a) The identities and domiciles of the parties, including specific information on the vendor's legal status at the time of the conclusion of the contract and the identity and domicile of the owner.

(b) The exact nature of the right which is the subject of the contract and a clause setting out the conditions governing the exercise of the right within the territory of the Member State(s) in which the property or properties concerned relates is or are situated and if those conditions have been fulfilled or, if they have not, what conditions remain to be fulfilled.

(c) When the property has been determined, an accurate description of that property and its location.

(d) Where the immovable property is under construction:

1. the state of completion;

2. a reasonable deadline for completion of the immovable property;

3. where it concerns a specific immovable property, the number of the building permit and the name(s) and full address(es) of the competent authority or authorities;

4. the state of completion of the services rendering the immovable property fully operational (gas, electricity, water and telephone connections);

5. a guarantee regarding completion of the immovable property or a guarantee regarding reimbursement of any payment made if the property is not completed and, where appropriate, the conditions governing the operation of those guarantees.

(e) The services (lighting, water, maintenance, refuse collection) to which the purchaser has or will have access and on what conditions.

(f) The common facilities, such as swimming pool, sauna, etc., to which the purchaser has or may have access, and, where appropriate, on what conditions.

(g) The principles on the basis of which the maintenance of and repairs to the immovable property and its administration and management will be arranged.

(h) The exact period within which the right which is the subject of the contract may be exercised and, if necessary, its duration; the date on which the purchaser may start to exercise the contractual right.

(i) The price to be paid by the purchaser to exercise the contractual right; an estimate of the amount to be paid by the purchaser for the use of common facilities and services, the basis for the calculation of the amount of charges relating to occupation of the property, the mandatory statutory charges (for example, taxes and fees) and the administrative overheads (for example, management, maintenance and repairs).

(j) A clause stating that acquisition will not result in costs, charges or obligations other than those specified in the contract.

(k) Whether or not it is possible to join a scheme for the exchange or resale of the contractual rights, and any costs involved should an exchange and/or resale scheme be organized by the vendor or by a third party designated by him in the contract.

(l) Information on the right to cancel or withdraw from the contract and indication of the person to whom any letter of cancellation or withdrawal should be sent, specifying also the arrangements under which such letters may be sent; precise indication of the nature and amount of the costs which the purchaser will be required to defray pursuant to Article 5 (3) if the exercises his right to withdraw; where appropriate, information on the arrangements for the cancellation of the credit agreement linked to the contract in the event of cancellation of the contract or withdrawal from it.

(m) The date and place of each party's signing of the contract.

STATEMENT OF THE COUNCIL'S REASONS

I. Introduction

1. On 2 July 1992 the Commission submitted to the Council a proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and the Council on the protection of purchasers in respect of certain aspects of contracts relating directly or indirectly to the purchase of the right to use immovable properties on a timeshare basis (1).

2. The European Parliament delivered its opinion on 26 May and 14 July 1993 (2).

3. The Economic and Social Committee delivered its opinion on 24 February 1993 (3).

4. The Commission forwarded an amended proposal to the Council on 7 October 1993, in response to the opinion of the European Parliament (4).

II. Common position

1. On 4 March 1994 the Council adopted a common position by a qualified majority (5), on the basis of Article 100a of the Treaty.

2. Aim of the Directive

The purpose of this proposal is to contribute towards completion of the internal market, and in so doing, given the cross-border nature of these contracts and the particular nature of the commercial techniques used to sell them, to give increased protection to purchasers wishing to conclude a contract relating directly or indirectly to the purchase of the right to use immovable property on a timeshare basis.

Accordingly, the proposal's main provisions relate to:

- prior information for the purchaser on the constituent parts of the contract,

- procedures for cancellation and withdrawal,

- a ban on advance payments.

3. General comments

In drawing up its common position, the Council has adopted provisions giving purchasers a high level of protection, in some instances (prior information, advances) higher than proposed by the European Parliament. The aim has been to reduce disparities between existing national legislation on timeshare, but without affecting fundamental aspects of national legal systems, particularly law on immovable property. The Council has thus endeavoured to abide by the principle of subsidiarity as far as compatible with the harmonization it was seeking.

Recitals 1 and 2 set out these guidelines.

On the basis of the above guidelines, the Council has been able to include in its common position, whether literally, in substance or in part, the European Parliament amendments taken on board by the Commission in its amended proposal.

4. Specific comments

(Unless otherwise stated, the following references relate to the text of the common position.)

4.1. Amendments to the amended Commission proposal submitted by the Council and accepted by the Commission

(i) Article 1

Since the wording of Article 1 in the amended proposal goes beyond the actual provisions of the Directive, it was thought necessary to recast the Article to confine it to those provisions and make clear that aspects of contractual transactions not covered by these provisions are the responsibility of the Member States.

This is reflected in recitals 2 (second sentence), 3 (second sentence) and 4.

(ii) Article 2 (and recitals 5 and 6)

The few amendments made to each of the definitions in Article 2 are designed to cater as fully as possible for all the different rights covered by contracts likely to be offered on the market, whether from the point of view of the right which is the subject of the contract, whether or not the right pre-dates the contract, or whether the contract gives access directly (e.g. 'multipropriété') or indirectly (e.g. Hapimag system) to the timeshare right.

It was also found appropriate to specify a minimum duration, set at one week, thus returning to the initial Commission proposal.

In view of the different forms of legal status that a vendor might take, it was felt better to require the legal status to be stated in the contract (see subparagraph (a) of the Annex) rather than to try to list the different forms in the third indent.

(iii) Article 3 of the amended proposal

Under this Article the vendor was required to 'ensure' certain things, but this offered such limited protection that in line with the Council's general approach and putting the stress on prior information for the purchaser, the content of this Article has been transferred to the Annex (subparagraphs (d), (g), (i) and (j) in particular) as minimum particulars to be included in the contract.

By virtue of Articles 10 and 11 of the common position, Member States may make these provisions even tougher.

(iv) Article 4 of the amended proposal

Since it is inconceivable that detailed rules for determining charges could be set centrally, the wording of this Article could not be adopted. However, it is essential that the purchaser be informed in advance of the detailed charges as provided for in Article 3 (1) and in subparagraphs (e) and (i) of the Annex to the common position.

(v) Article 3 (and recital 7)

In the main, the amendments made in this Article to Article 5 of the amended proposal specify who is to receive the information document ('any person requesting information on the immovable property') and increase the amount of information to be supplied by the vendor.

(vi) Article 4 (and recitals 8 and 110)

Here the Council felt it was essential, in order for the information given purchasers to actually help protect them, to be as precise and as broad as possible, with a view to any subsequent disputes, in specifying the languages in which the contract and the information document must be drawn up.

It also put the stress on objective factors (language of country of residence, of which the purchaser is a national, etc.) to reduce any risk of his being manipulated (language which he 'states he knows').

(vii) Articles 5 and 6 (and recitals 11 and 12)

These two Articles have to be taken at the same time in that, together, they provide the high level of protection sought by the Council that could not be guaranteed by the wording of Article 7 of the amended proposal; that Article still left open the possibility of advance payments. Experience with this market has shown that in certain segments of the market effective guarantees do exist where advances have been made but that, in other cases, once a purchaser has made an advance, it becomes very difficult for him to withdraw, even with a cooling off period of several weeks, and even more difficult to get his money back.

In consequence, no advances are allowed. This being the case, a withdrawal period as long as that stipulated in the amended proposal would no longer mean any significant improvement in purchaser protection, and might have the perverse effect, by making the vendor wait longer, of encouraging him to increase his prices, and thus reducing consumer access to the market. The period has thus been reduced to 10 days.

In addition, a clear distinction must be drawn between:

- a situation in which the purchaser, although duly informed and in possession of a full contract, decides of his own accord not to proceed, and withdraws,

- and a situation in which the contract is not complete because information is lacking, where the contract has to be cancelled mandatorily, through the fault of the vendor. In this situation, it would not be fair to make the purchaser pay costs, but is reasonable to give the vendor a certain amount of time to supplement the information.

In any event, only costs strictly linked to the contract and prescribed by national legislation can be taken into account, without there being any reason at the outset for these costs to represent a given percentage of the sales price.

Information on these rights of withdrawal and cancellation has to be given twice, prior to the contract (see Article 3 (1)) and in the contract (subparagraph 1 of the Annex).

(viii) Article 7 (and recital 13)

Two clarifications have been made to Article 8 of the amended proposal:

- the purchaser must not be penalized when he cancels the credit agreement associated with the timeshare contract,

- cancellation of the agreement is a right, not simply an option offered the purchaser.

(ix) Article 9 (and recital 14)

While sharing the concern that purchasers should be given maximum protection, even where the contract provides that the law of a third country is applicable, the Council felt it would be unrealistic and misleading to claim to provide that protection universally, and has confined its scope to the territory of the Member States.

(x) Article 11 (and recital 9)

The Council preferred a form of words which kept to the substance of the amended proposal, but put the stress on the objective to be achieved ('provisions favourable as regards the protection of purchasers').

(xi) Article 12

Practical considerations relating to national transposition procedures have led to adoption of a three-year period.

(xii) Annex

In the main, the text of the amended proposal has been taken over without any other changes than those deriving from the Articles, except for one addition concerning information on the conditions governing exercise of the right which is the subject of the contract (subparagraph (b)).

4.2. European Parliament amendments included in the amended Commission proposal and adopted in the common position

(i) Deletion of titles (amendment No 5): adopted unchanged. For the sake of consistency with this amendment, no titles have been put in, even for the Articles.

(ii) First indent of Article 2 (amendment No 7)

The Council has adopted the chief components of this amendment, 'at a certain time', 'for a minimum specified or specifiable period' and exclusion of tenancy agreements not in conformity with the definitions in the Article (see recital 5):

- making it specific (minimum duration set at one week),

- by removing factors that were likely to cause confusion or were too restrictive (capital sum is an unnecessary restriction compared with global price; in view of the variety of different rights that could form the subject of a contract, an open formulation - or any other right - is more suitable),

- aligning its scope with Article 1: immovable properties, contract relating to the purchase of the right to use.

(iii) Second indent of Article 2 (amendment No 48): the substance of this amendment is covered by the current wording of the indent, which leaves open the state (already built or due to be built) and nature (house, etc.) of the property. Recital 6 and subparagraph (d) of the Annex also cover this point.

(iv) Amendments Nos 11, 12, 13 and 14: bearing in mind the comments in section 4.1 (iii) above, the main thrust of these amendments has been adopted in the Annex (subparagraphs (b) and (d) for amendment No 11; subparagraphs (j) and (i) for amendment No 12; subparagraphs (e) and (f) for amendment No 13; subparagraph (g) for amendment No 14).

However, following the line taken in the amended proposal, the Council has not adopted certain particulars, inter alia those relating to construction rules, or the possibility to do as one wishes with the property concerned, as these questions are more properly dealt with by national legislation and because the proposed wording is so general as to add nothing to consumer protection.

On the other hand, it was thought useful to inform the purchaser of the possibility of resale or exchange specific to this type of contract (see subparagraph (k) of the Annex).

(v) Amendment No 16

As stated in section 4.1 (iv) above, the main point of this amendment has been adopted in Article 3 (1) and in subparagraphs (e) and (i) of the Annex.

(vi) Article 3 (amendment No 17)

This amendment has been adopted with the clarifications referred to in section 4.1 (v) above. The statement of the language to be used is covered by the second indent of Article 4.

(vii) Article 4 (amendment No 19)

This amendment has been adopted with the modifications for which reasons are given in section 4.1 (vi) above.

(viii) Article 5 (amendments Nos 51, 21, 22) and Article 6 (amendment No 58)

As stated in detail in section 4.1 (vii) above, the Council wanted to secure effective protection for purchasers by banning any advance payments, defending purchasers against inadequate information by vendors and strictly limiting the costs which purchasers might have to defray. The amendments have therefore been taken on board, with the above adjustments and additions, in Articles 5 and 6 and in subparagraph 1 of the Annex.

(ix) Article 8 (amendment No 25)

The Council adopted the principle of this amendment by grouping together the types of clauses which are not binding on the purchaser, but aligning the wording on Article 6 (1) of the Council Directive on unfair terms in consumer contracts.

(x) Article 9 (amendment No 27)

Subject to the reservations in section 4.1 (ix) above, the Council shares the Parliament's view on the need to ensure that the means of redress open to purchasers be as wide as possible, but felt that the proposed wording carried little actual weight on account of the provisions of private international law, preferring to use a form of words derived from the abovementioned Council Directive on unfair terms.

(xi) Annex

- Amendments Nos 31, 32, 33, 34, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41 and 42.

Subject to the above comments and amendments resulting from Articles or detailed provisions that seemed difficult to put into practice, the general thrust of these amendments has been adopted, where appropriate with amendments improving the information available to the purchaser (in particular in subparagraphs (b), (d), (j), (l) and (m)).

4.3. European Parliament amendments not adopted in the amended Commission proposal

The Council has not adopted these amendments either, on the following grounds:

- amendments Nos 1, 2, 3 and 4: adoption of these amendments would not have been consistent with the enacting terms adopted,

- amendment No 6: this amendment cannot be adopted as:

- the Annex is an integral part of the enacting terms of the Directive, so there is no need to mention it separately,

- purchasers purchase the whole right which is the subject of the contract, so they do not buy 'shares' in it, even though use of the property is on a timeshare basis,

- in view of the current situation on the market and potential developments, it did not seem appropriate to include movable property, even that for accommodation purposes, in the scope of the Directive,

- amendment No 9: rejected on the above grounds,

- amendment No 10: the aim here is to protect purchasers acting as individual consumers. Legal persons are accordingly not included,

- amendment No 15: this type of provision relates to general provisions on the bankruptcy or insolvency of service providers, without any specific timeshare ingredient, which can best be dealt with under national legislation,

- amendment No 18: this amendments is not in keeping with customary practice, including that in the national legislation of some Member States. Furthermore, subparagraph (b) of the Annex requires the exact nature of the right which is the subject of the contract to be specified,

- amendment No 24: although the type of provision suggested here could, in theory, contribute to purchaser protection, the wording of it could not be applied in practice. In any event, Article 11 allows Member States to adopt such provisions,

- amendment Nos 26, 28, 29 and 30: these amendments are not consistent with amendment No 5 adopted by the Council and the Commission,

- amendment No 49: bearing in mind the variety of timeshare products on offer, and the fact that they are constantly changing, reducing them to three categories gives an inaccurate picture both of the market and of the potential for unscrupulous vendors to circumvent the Directive,

- amendment No 35: the concept used in the Directive is right of use, not timeshare objects,

- amendment No 43: the comment on amendment No 15 applies mutatis mutandis,

- amendment No 44: although there is no doubt that such information would be extremely useful to the purchaser, putting this amendment into practice would presuppose that, for each part of the contract liable to give rise to litigation, the vendor was able to anticipate firstly, which court had jurisdiction, and secondly, the law which the judge in that court would decide to apply, bearing in mind, where appropriate, all the relevant rules of international law.

(1) OJ No C 222, 29. 8. 1992, p. 5.

(2) OJ No C 176, 28. 6. 1993, p. 5 and No C 255, 20. 9. 1993, p. 70.

(3) OJ No C 108, 19. 4. 1993, p. 1.

(4) OJ No C 299, 5. 11. 1993, p. 8.

(5) The Portuguese delegation having voted against, and the Netherlands delegation having abstained.