It is often stated that real estate is not EU policy. This is largely true and good as housing policy and property law are not the EU’s competence. There is a strong local aspect to much regulation of property which must indeed be as close to citizens as possible, often below the national level. And yet, for very important reasons, real estate is also at the heart of European politics and it is extremely timely that European Valuation Standards have made our work and our goals part of the substance of valuation practice. Across the Union, real estate markets, closely dependent on bank finance, have all been affected by the crisis and in some areas have been part of the systemic problem. The European Parliament has been at the forefront of the wave of EU legislation designed to make it far more difficult for such cascading market failures to happen again. Valuation is clearly a key component of property market safety and security, and it is therefore to be welcomed that European Valuation Standards comprise specific applications on valuation issues raised by the Services Directive and the Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive. Land and buildings are also the single most important stake in the sustainability debate, buildings alone accounting for 36% of EU carbon footprint and land use being another key climate factor. Land and buildings are the matrices of EU policy on soil protection, flood management, water saving, environmental liability, environmental impact assessment, strategic environmental assessment, renewables and energy efficiency. But EU legislation cannot achieve its goals without proper take-up, and efficient transposition of EU Directives into national law is only part of this. Increasingly, it is important to ensure authentic understanding and ‘ownership’ of EU policy goals by citizens. Here too, it is commendable that European Valuation Standards contain a specific application helping valuers help their clients to make the most out of the opportunities offered by the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive.