The Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee adopted new rules to ensure that house buyers are properly informed before taking on a mortgage. The text approved stressed that any financial advice given to borrowers should be impartial, and enable them to understand the long-run financial consequences of taking out the loan.

MEPs at the Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee in the European Parliament adopted new rules to ensure that buyers are offered mortgages that are tailored to their needs and that their creditworthiness is properly assessed. In addition, the rules also stress that buyers who fail to repay a loan would be better protected against seizure of their assets. To curb irresponsible lending, mortgage sellers would be better supervised.

Basic rules adopted in the Directive would apply EU-wide and information for buyers would have to be presented in a consistent format across the EU. However some of the legislation's requirements would be adapted to reflect differences among EU Member States' national mortgage and property markets. In all the cases, MEPs have stiffened the requirements proposed by the European Commission in April 2011 on information to be provided before the borrower signs a mortgage and inserted rules on the borrower's "financial education".

Moreover, MEPs inserted flexibility provisions, including a right for the borrower to repay the loan early and a right for the lender to receive a fair compensation for such early repayment. However, obliging borrowers to pay penalties for early repayment would be prohibited. Proposed rules for loans denominated in a foreign currency would allow the borrower, on certain conditions, to change the currency of the loan, while the lender would be entitled to be compensated for this change.