Brussels, 27/10/2015 (Agence Europe) - The European Commission is due to present a communication on Wednesday 28 October setting out its strategy for the internal market in which an economy based on sharing will play a significant part, even as the person-to-person transport platform Uber continues regularly to make headlines.
One of the first major undertakings planned by the Commission, as revealed by this newsletter (see EUROPE 11417), will be the promotion and framing of the sharing economy. This booming sector is seen as an important lever for the European economy of tomorrow, in terms of employment, competitiveness and innovation. The figures put forward by the Commission speak for themselves: income generated by this sector are forecast to rise from $15 billion (€13.5 billion) currently to $335 billion (over €300 billion) by 2025. “A third of European consumers say they will take part in the sharing economy”, according to the Commission.
Acutely aware that this new economic model will impact on activities already in place, the Commission wants above all to avoid differing responses from the member states, fragmenting the internal market. It is looking to clarify the legal grey area around this sector in terms of consumer rights, taxation, licensing agreements, social security and employment.
Within the framework of the single digital strategy, the Commission launched a wide-ranging public consultation in September on online platforms, data, the cloud and the sharing economy. The results of the consultation are expected at the end of December and will be used to help the Commission draft guidelines on applying European legislation to the specific points of the sharing economy based on the services directive, the e-commerce directive and, more generally, European consumer rights law. In this context, the Commission intends regularly to assess developments in the sharing economy sector at national, local, sectoral and also company levels.
The case of Uber is a clear illustration of the need to remove the legal uncertainty which enshrouds the sector, with the Commission having to ask the question of the very nature of the services of this collaborative platform and whether these fall within the digital or transport areas. If it is decided that it is the latter, the California-based service will find itself subject to far tighter legal rules (see EUROPE 11379). At the same time, many member states continue to legislate without any coordination, some banning Uber and others allowing it to operate within their borders.
In a speech, delivered to the executive committee of BusinessEurope on Thursday 22 October, Internal Market and Industry Commissioner Elzbieta Bienkowska set out the broad outlines of the Commission's strategy and some of its objectives. “Creating opportunities for our consumers to shop around for the best quality, price or service. Without discrimination, wherever they live, wherever they are from” is the top objective she intends to pursue with this strategy. She stated that the sharing economy had a role to play but without weakening consumer rights or tax rules. (Original version in French by Pascal Hansens)