31/03/2017
In recent years, the ‘sharing economy’, which enables citizens to share, via online applications, goods and services such as accommodation-sharing and vehicle-sharing, has gained huge ground. The growth of such services on the market has been rapid and has led to reactions from traditional providers of such services (hoteliers, taxi drivers) that have been handled differently from one Member State to another.
Therefore it is important — given that we are referring to a type of service that will probably dominate in the future — that we have a single binding framework for these applications, ensuring control and reasonable tax revenue for the state, with a view to preventing competitive imbalances and preventing service bans, as have been enforced in some countries.
Given the importance of the tourist season in the south of Europe, will the Commission dedicate extra care to working with the countries in the south to ensure that the basic rules for the use of these services are applied uniformly?
Will a single European regulatory framework be created to resolve critical issues and make business easier for companies by removing the need to deal with 28 different regulatory authorities?
