With draft EU legislation on digital services expected in a month’s time, the Netherlands, along with France and Austria, is calling for the text to clarify or even improve the country of origin principle applicable to online platforms. That is what emerges from the unofficial document they released on Monday 9 November.
On 2 December, the European Commission is due to present legislation on digital services (DSA) to update the e-commerce directive (2000/31/EC) and another on digital markets (DMA), which will address very large online platforms (see EUROPE 12582/13).
The Dutch non-paper criticises the negative economic impact of the AirBNB-type short-term rental platforms. A negative impact on all of the following, the housing market, livability, social cohesion, security and the level playing field for other players in the rental market.
While the Dutch government believes that the European rules on providers in the internal market are sufficient (under Directive 2006/123/EC), it also believes that the rules on online platforms, in particular the country of origin principle, need to be clarified or re-examined.
The non-paper stresses the need to revisit the issue of accountability in relation to the type of platform and its role. In particular, it cites obligations to combat illegal activities which, as far as the short-term rental market is concerned, concern the placement of illegal advertising. It also calls for public authorities to be given better access to data in order to enforce the rules “in extreme cases, in the form of a data-sharing obligation”.
Furthermore, the Netherlands considers that the country of origin principle, according to which platforms only have to comply with the rules of the Member State in which they are legally established, should be clarified. In their view, this would reaffirm a provision that already exists in the e-commerce directive and which allows legal obligations to be imposed on short-term rental platforms.
Link: https://bit.ly/3eEMii5 (Original version in French by Sophie Petitjean)