EU Throws Its Weight Behind The Sharing Economy
Good news for Uber and Airbnb—the EU just said banning the “sharing economy” should only be considered as an absolute last resort.
The new EU guidelines focused on dealing with Internet sharing-services say any restrictions placed on these companies by EU states should be proportionate to the public interest at stake, such as safety or social policy, Reuters reports. This comes in the wake of some European cities banning companies like Uber and Airbnb because they take businesses away from taxi companies and hotels.
While the EU guidelines are not legally binding in themselves, the Commission said it will use the guidelines as a way to ensure national legislation does not violate EU treaties. So, they sort of are legally binding, when interpreted by the Commission at least, making the new EU guidelines a huge validation of the sharing economy. [Reuters]
