The European Parliament is preparing its own-initiative report on the collaborative economy. On Tuesday 8 November it organised a workshop in which participants highlighted the new opportunities and challenges posed by this new paradigm.
The European Commission recently began to get to grips with this question, whilst waiting for further clarification from the Court of Justice on the Uber case. In May, it published a communication on platforms (see EUROPE 11541) and in June it published another one on the collaborative economy (see EUROPE 11564), in which it recommends a “case-by-case” assessment.
The majority of participants in the workshop on 8 November highlighted the economic potential of the collaborative economy (€28 billion in gross revenue in the EU in 2015). They also recognised, however, that this new model created problems. Nicola Danti (S&D, Italy), the rapporteur on this dossier, said in his preamble that "we need to rethink our models and define a European approach. Distinguishing between professional and non-professional activities will enable us to define our individual obligations".
One of the contributions most commented upon was that made by Professor Arun Sundararajan, from the Stern School of Business, during a teleconferencing session from New York (USA). He mentioned the need to rethink the European social system, in an effort to ensure that all workers received the same protection as that proposed for full-time employees. The professor highlighted the fact that only a third of Uber drivers work full time and that "details must be defined by the member states. A saving fund should be created in which individuals could contribute and a platform developed on the pro rata rates of the work provided. The government should set up a system and manage the tax questions".
Guillermo Beltra from the European Consumers Organisation (BEUC) welcomed the work carried out by the Commission but added that “the Commission’s communication is a good start but it will not help to resolve the lack of legal certainty or provide a coherent approach throughout the whole of the EU”.
The European Commission is currently preparing an exploratory study in which it will investigate user-related issues, particularly consumer related aspects and problems on certain peer-to-peer online markets. The aim is also to map out appropriate national legislation in the 28 member states. The study is expected to be published by the end of this month. (Original version in French by Sophie Petitjean)