The fight against housing shortages may justify a national measure requiring authorisation to rent, repeatedly and for short periods, residential premises to customers who do not take up residence there, said the Advocate General of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU), Michal Bobek, on Thursday 2 April (Cases C-724/18 and C-727/18).
Following an investigation by the Paris municipal services conducted in 2015, two owners of furnished studios in Paris were fined because they each rented their studios via the Airbnb platform without authorisation.
As this decision was contested by the two landlords, the case was finally referred to the CJEU to determine whether a national regulation which makes the letting of furnished premises for short periods subject to an administrative authorisation falls within the scope of the European Directive on Services in the Internal Market (2006/123).
In other words, the question was whether requiring authorisation in such cases for national or municipal measures contravenes the principle of freedom to provide services laid down in the Directive.
In his Opinion, the Advocate General took the view that this was not the case. " A shortage of long-term housing constitutes an overriding reason of public interest capable of justifying a national measure, which requires authorisation to be obtained for the repeated letting of residential accommodation for short periods to a transit clientele ", according to the Advocate General.
However, these measures must comply with the conditions of proportionality and non-discrimination, Mr Bobek added.
" This case [...] only applies to the renting of second homes in Paris. The vast majority of hosts in Paris share their primary homes and the CJEU has already set out how Airbnb should be regulated in Europe " was the US company’s reaction as quoted by Reuters.
These conclusions are not binding on the Court, which will render its verdict in the coming months.
To consult the Opinion of the Advocate General: https://bit.ly/2R79FGn (Original version in French by Damien Genicot)