An Overview of Land Consolidation in Europe

Rural development by land consolidation is used in several countries in the Continent of Europe. At the moment, land consolidation projects are executed mainly in Germany, the Netherlands, France, Belgium, Luxembourg, Austria and Switzerland as well as Finland, Norway and Sweden. The demand for land consolidation arises from a similar source in all countries: the need for readjusting unfavourable land division and promoting the appropriate use of the real property without changing the status of ownership. There are differences in the objectives and procedures of land consolidation depending on the country in question, as the development of the procedure has been influenced by the historical trends, culture, tradition and legislation in each of the countries. The common initiative for land consolidation in different countries has, however, offered the possibility of adopting well-proven solutions, and the features of the land consolidation process have developed similar in all of Europe. Based on literature research the objective of this article is to discuss the similarities and differences in the land consolidation procedure in various European countries. The article considers the organisation, objectives, legal procedure, costs and financing, and the development prospects. Furthermore, the article compares the objectives and contents of land consolidation in Finland, Germany, the Netherlands and Sweden in more detail