Timeshare agreement: legal nature and problematic aspects

The article examines the legal nature of a timeshare agreement, identifies problematic aspects that require regulation during the recodification of the Civil Code of Ukraine in the aspect of Europeanization of private law. The widespread approach of considering the nature of the agreement through a legal relationship is investigated, and the special characteristics of a contractual relationship characteristic of it are highlighted. A review of approaches to the understanding of such concepts as “timeshare agreement”, “timeshare”, “club vacation” and “vacation ownership” by scientists is carried out. The inadmissibility of identifying the specified terms is substantiated. In order to clarify the legal nature of a timeshare agreement, its comparison with a lease agreement is carried out. It is noted that the EU has already developed an understanding of the differences between these agreements, so in timeshare the right to use as an object cannot be transferred, as well as different approaches to the terms of use and payment under lease and timeshare agreements. Separately, the features of property relations that arise when concluding a timeshare agreement are clarified, it is noted that they are not of an investment nature, since the consumer concludes a timeshare agreement to organize his vacation. To strengthen the argumentation of this position, a comparison with the agreement on participation in a construction financing fund is presented. The fiduciary nature of timeshare is considered, and its comparison with consumer products is also made. It is proved that timeshare agreements have a complex (mixed) legal nature, combining various features of service agreements. The results of comparative studies on the consolidation of legal principles for regulating timeshare in such countries as the Netherlands, Germany, Austria, Liechtenstein, the United Kingdom, Belgium, Ireland, Romania, Spain, Italy, Portugal, Finland, France, Sweden, Croatia, Montenegro are presented. It is proven that Ukraine should choose a path that includes provisions in the Civil Code of Ukraine on the specifics of regulating timeshare contracts, while implementing the main provisions of EU directives on the regulation of timeshare relations, and making the necessary changes to the law on consumer protection.