Should stricter rules apply to UBER, AIRBNB and other sharing economy businesses?
In 2014, Barcelona’s main taxi operator, Asociacion Profesional Elite Taxi (APET), filed a lawsuit with a Spanish court, stating that Uber was attempting to unfairly avoid regulations which are otherwise binding on established competitors, such as APET. APET argued, as did other Uber competitors throughout the EU, that Uber is not bound by strict local licencing and safety rules, which apply to taxi companies and other transport firms, and is therefore in breach of Spanish competition laws.
In November 2016, the Spanish court sought assistance from the European Court of Justice (ECJ) asking it to determine whether the Spanish Uber company is a transport firm or a digital platform. Since EU law treats digital platforms and transport firms differently, namely, prohibits restrictions being placed on businesses offering digital platforms, this question is important to determine, whether Uber is in breach of EU (and Spanish) competition laws. Uber, naturally, argued that they are an app or a digital platform, which helps to connect willing drivers with customers.
The case has only recently been brought before the ECJ, however, the European Commission, has already expressed its opinion that the Spanish Uber company (also known as UberPOP) is a mixture between a digital platform and a transport firm. The Commission’s opinion could be important in the context of the ECJ ruling, but the outcome of this deliberation will only be known in the second half of 2017.
So far, Uber’s expansion into the European Union market has been blocked by several disputes, either involving competition law, employment law (as already reported), and other. Furthermore, Uber is faced with complaints about its workers’ driving conditions throughout the globe. In the APET case, the consequences of the ECJ ruling could impact other sharing economy businesses, such as AirBnb, Sidecar, FlipKey, and others, which could be considered more than just digital platforms and therefore subject to stricter rules.
