Milan, 17/09/2014 (Agence Europe) - The application of Uberpop car sharing was authorised again in Germany by the regional Frankfurt court on Tuesday 16 September. The court has subsequently backpedalled, after banning the controversial Californian company from operating on German territory at the end of August last (see EUROPE 11147).
In the meantime, Uber did not really cease operations. Internet car sharing reservations is very much seen in a bad light by taxi drivers who see it as unfair competition. The International Transport Federation tackled the subject during a conference in Brussels and stated that their trade unions intended to carry out action against “independent and non-regulated companies that use hi-tech apps”. Protest action is planned to take place on 8 October and Franck Moreels, vice president of the organisation responsible for road transport said that the unions “are certainly not against computer technology in the taxi sector. What we are against is these companies undermining public safety and the jobs of real, regulated taxi drivers by bypassing regulations and refusing liability in the case of accidents”. The European Commission is currently examining Uber's approach in the context of freedom of establishment, although the company has also met with some controversy in the way it has penetrated markets in several other European countries. The Commission highlights the positive repercussions of innovation in the transport sector, as long as it serves the interests of consumers (see EUROPE 11149). (MD)