On 14 January 2022, John Berrigan, Director-General for FISMA, sent a letter to the Chairperson of the European Banking Authority (EBA), José Manuel, requesting the EBA to deliver advice regarding the review of Mortgage Credit Directive (MCD).

The letter refers to a report that the European Commission (Commission) published last May in accordance with the requirements of Article 44 of the MCD which requires the Commission to undertake a review of the Directive to consider the effectiveness and appropriateness of the provisions relating to consumers and the Single Market. That report concluded that the Directive has raised the standard of consumer protection and has helped to harmonise mortgage lending practices across Member States but the level of protection differs. The report also concluded that the impact on the creation of a Single Market for residential property loans has been limited for reasons outside the scope of the Directive.

The letter mentions that the Commission is still gathering evidence in view of a possible revision of the MCD. An open public consultation and call for evidence were published last November. The Commission also intends to commission a study to support an impact assessment of any possible measures to be taken at the EU level. Also, the Commission is seeking advice from the EBA on a number of specific topics related to the MCD. The Commission asks the EBA to deliver its advice to the Commission by 30 June 2022.