Timeshare began in 1964 at Superdevolvy in the French Alps.

From this small beginning it has grown into an industry with over 4,250 resorts and 3.5 million owning families world-wide.

The product has been well received and the concept has attracted many of the major names in the leisure industry, such at Marriott, Hyatt, Hilton, Intercontinental, ClubMed, Stakis and De Vere.

As is well known, this growth has not been without problems, the main one being the aggressive "pushy" selling techniques.It was to combat these sales excesses that the UK Government introduced the 1992 Timeshare Act.

However, this had little effect in the geographical areas most in need of control.

To achieve this, a European Directive (Com 93) 487 final syn 419 of October 7, 1993 as amended by OJC 137/42 of May 19, 1994 was published in the Official Journal.

This provided for all EU Member States to implement timeshare legis lation by the end of April 1997.What is timeshare? It is the sharing of residential units, usually on a weekly basis with concurrent ownership.

All owners contribute to the expense and management is undertaken either by the owners themselves or sub-contracted.

Within the UK the most common legal structure is the Club Trustee system.

Under this the landowner developer transfers the title to the land and buildings to an independent trustee who holds the property on trust for the timeshare owners.

This provides security for the owners as the main assets of the resort are removed from the reach of creditors.Payment for the timeshare is made either to the developer's solicitor or to the trustee to be held in escrow until the release criteria are met.

Usually these criteria are the physical completion of the project and the vesting of the legal title, usually long lease, in the trustee.

There are, in addition to the giants of the world leisure industry, two additional players.

Resort Condominium International (RCI) and Interval International (II).

These are the exchange companies and both operate world wide.

RCI alone arranges more than one million exchanges every year between its 3,000 plus affiliated resorts.For many buyers the prospect of exchanging timeshare is one of the main attractions.

As families grow up, so holiday priorities change.

The exchange systems cater for this.

Timeshare exchanges account for over 10% of the entire British package holiday market.Back to the EU Directive.

What did it aim to achieve? -- a level playing field (the Minister's words) protecting the interests of consumers.

As those familiar with timeshare will know, there were three main strands to the Directive.

A ten-day cooling off period, full disclosure of information to buyers and no deposit during the cooling off period.

By the end of April 1997 only two EU countries had introduced the legislation flowing from the Directive: Germany and the United Kingdom.Where are we a year on? Most EU countries have adopted and introduced the Regulations.

There is, however, one very notable exception, Spain.

It seems highly unlikely that Spain will introduce legislation before this Autumn, at the very earliest.

This is unfortunate because Spain includes the Canaries and Balearics and these areas have excessive selling practices, the most timeshare sales and generate the majority of complaints.Is the playing field level? No.

There is a lack of uniformity across the Community.

For example, the United Kingdom cooling off period was retained from the 1992 Act at 14 days and not the 10 set out in the Directive.

Under the Directive, deposits were banned during the cooling off period.

Most national legislation provides for a total ban.

Some however, for example, Greece, Austria and Germany, will permit deposits to be given to third parties during the cooling off period.Another major difference is that, uniquely under the UK law, specific cancellation notices must be given to buyers.

In effect they receive an open invitation to cancel.

The result is a high degree of confusion.

Many British holidaymakers travelling abroad believe they have the 14 day cooling off period yet at best they only have 10 days and in some of the Community no cooling off at all.Another anticipated problem is that of enforcement.

Within Britain, Trading Standards Officers have been taking action under the 1992 Timeshare Act as amended by the 1997 Regulations.

In particular they have been targeting the resale companies selling second hand timeshare.

Many of these have been seeking to circ umvent the Regulations by claiming to sell as agents of the original owners.

There have been few reported cases of prosecutions in other EU countries and one suspects that, as with most European legislation, some nations will be more enthusiastic to enforce than others.

There is also the interesting prospect of the possibility of Spain being subject to a Francovich action for failing to implement the Directive.What of the future? This will become clearer once Spain, the Balearics and the Canaries introduce the legislation required to bring in the Directive.

The Canaries have, in fact, brought in their own timeshare legislation but this is not as comprehensive or consumer friendly as the Directive.

The legislation will not be uniform but there will be a greater degree of protection for would be timeshare buyers.

Already one is noticing a marked diminution of rogue practices in those areas which have implemented.

This in turn will lead to improved image and standards which will be beneficial to not only the timeshare industry but also those affected by it.The entry of the large leisure organisations coupled with the increased legislation and recent Court cases in England, notably the House of Lords upholding the Court of Appeal decision in Jarrett v Barclays Bank Plc & Royal Bank of Scotland Plc (minuted on February 27, 1997) will result in the continued expansion of timeshare.Professional advisors to the leisure industry would do well to familiarise themselves with the law surrounding timeshare as the anticipated growth makes it more likely that this expertise will be called upon.