Posted December 2000
Final report
The concept of land as property has gone through unprecedented changes in recent history, especially in Central and Eastern European countries, as the former socialist economies change from social property models to those based on individual and private rights. Land registration systems and their supporting institutions are creating for the first time, or recreating long abandoned property markets in land and other natural resources to meet the new needs of people in securing and making transactions on their restituted property.
Recognising that the ultimate challenge for countries in transition is actually getting the appropriate policy and institutional arrangements in place, FAO and the Italian Government launched the "Bertinoro Initiative" to provide a forum for experts to identify ways of improving land administration services through public/private sector partnerships. The Bertinoro Seminars held in 1997 and 1998 brought together CEE experts from Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Estonia, Georgia, Greece, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Poland, Romania, Russian Federation, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Turkey, Ukraine, and Yugoslavia. Other participants came from Australia, Canada, France, Italy, The Netherlands, United Kingdom, and USA.
Bertinoro's theme for 1999 was "Private and Public Sector Co-operation in National Land Tenure Development: Peaceful Enjoyment of Land and Associated Real Property Rights". The Cervia "International Land Tenure School", held for the first time, provided courses on contemporary land administration and technology. The Seminar at Bertinoro addressed the identification of institutional innovations and developments needed to ensure the peaceful enjoyment of property in Southeast Europe and the ways of involving land tenure experts from the private sector in this process. Participants from Southeast Europe and other transition countries came from Albania, Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece, Hungary, Moldova, Romania, the Russian Federation, Turkey, Ukraine and Yugoslavia. The meetings were enriched through the comparative experiences of participants from Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Switzerland, UK and USA.
This final report documents the 1999 Bertinoro Initiative. Section 2 presents the Cervia International Land Tenure School. Its introductory remarks are followed by the participants' recommendations prepared during the School. Section 3 describes the issues raised at the Bertinoro Seminar. Section 4 contains papers on the land tenure situation in the Southeast European countries prepared by the experts who participated in the Initiative. Section 5 highlights comparative experiences from countries with well-functioning land administration agencies. Annex 1 provides information on those who participated. Finally, annexes 2 and 3 give the programmes of the School and Seminar.
Jim Riddell
Chief, Land Tenure Service, FAO
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