On Thursday 5 March, the European Commission announced the conclusion of an agreement with the major short-term property rental platforms Airbnb, Booking, Expedia Group and Tripadvisor, regarding the sharing of data relating to the short-term accommodation offered by these players in the collaborative economy.
The institution explains in a press release that the aim is to enable the statistical office of the European Union, Eurostat, to publish data on accommodation intended for short-term rentals (generally for holidays) throughout the European Union. According to the Commissioner for the Economy Paolo Gentiloni, this is a first as he recalled that the Office had never cooperated directly with industry to provide data for the whole of the European Union.
Furthermore, this data will enable public authorities to better understand the phenomenon of the development of the collaborative economy in this sector and, consequently, to develop better policies. The European Commissioner for the Internal Market, Thierry Breton explained that this data will provide an objective basis for discussions with European cities in order to gain a “balanced view” of the phenomenon. Before ensuring that the Commission will continue to support the collaborative economy, “help local communities meet the challenges posed by these rapid changes”.
Shared data will include the number of nights booked and the number of guests. They will be aggregated at municipal level and continuously updated and the Commission guarantees the protection of the private data of the users of these platforms. The first statistics should be published in the second half of 2020.
The short term rental sector is of particular interest to the Commission, which is about to devote an initiative to it as part of its strategy for SMEs on Tuesday 10 March (see EUROPE 12431/11).
These platforms are facing criticism and are being held responsible for high rent inflation, especially in capital cities. Only yesterday, 22 cities and capitals asked the European Union to take legislative action in a joint letter (see EUROPE 12439/27). (Original version in French by Pascal Hansens)