The European Commission’s flexible approach to legislating the collaborative economy was backed by European ministers at the Competitiveness Council in Brussels on 29 September, but a number of delegations warned of the risk of fragmentation.
This was the first discussion since the European Commission’s publication of a report on the collaborative economy in June. The Slovak Presidency of the Council of the EU sent the delegations three questions on national practices, how to distinguish between amateur and professional services, and what they consider the best way to promote balanced development of the collaborative economy.
The ministers broadly backed the Commission’s idea to distinguish between brokerage platforms and service platforms using a body of rules limited to the former and making a case-by-case assessment of the latter (see EUROPE 11564). Many delegations recognise this expanding sector’s growth potential and, like Malta, stress the importance of not banning services without carrying out a detailed investigation into alternatives.
Luxembourg points out risk of legal fragmentation
Several member states, headed by Luxembourg, stressed the risk of legal fragmentation within the EU. The Commission’s report is restricted to non-binding guidelines in five key areas (access to the market, responsibility, user protection, the status of workers and the applicable tax rules), but it has not decided on the tricky question of whether to ban services like Uber Pop in France.
In this connection, a number of member states continue to call for exchange of best practice. The idea of introducing caps to decide whether a service is amateur or professional was welcomed by countries such as Belgium, which is planning a simplified tax system for collaborative suppliers earning less than €5,000 a year. (Original version in French by Sophie Petitjean)