This paper analyses the existing divergence between the systems of land registers in the Member States of the European Union and its impact in a partially harmonized field as European contract law. Taking as a starting point the notion of the registration as an additional formality required to gain full effectiveness of the contract before third parties, the acquis communautaire is reviewed while looking for some rules that deal with rights in rem that may be registered (i.e. reservation of title, timesharing) with land contracts or with mortgaged credits. From a comparative law approach several problems are studied that have to be tackled by all the registration systems (like the role of registration in the transfer of property, the contractual form entering the Register, the registration gap). The idea of computerization of registers as a possible path towards convergence is also explored, taking into account the patterns the English e-conveyance and e-registration, as designed by LRA 2002, the EU Eulis project and the International Register of the unidroit Convention of Cape Town of 2001 on international securities in mobile equipment. Finally, the possibilities for a harmonization of the existing registration systems and the present convergence features are evaluated.
European Review of Private Law