ABSTRACT
In this chapter, we review land market institutions in the European Union (EU) and their potential impact on land markets. We first reviewed land tenure-/ownership regulations and found that they vary heavily across EU Member States. Four types of tenure-/ownership measures are implemented in the EU: to protect the tenant, to protect the owner, to protect the (non-farm) landowner, and to prevent land fragmentation. We then examine EU land-related environmental regulations whose general objective is to address land market failures linked to externalities and the provision of public goods. Despite possibly reducing private benefits of landowners or users, environmental regulations may generate welfare gains to society by improving the environmental services on land. Finally, we investigate how area-based subsidies affect land prices. These subsidies are empirically found to be partially capitalized into land values, albeit at a lower rate than suggested by theory.
