Four years ago,
Four years ago, the battle for these new companies was a commercial one. Could they prove their viability? Which ones would emerge as the dominant back and governments unsure of how to proceed, the battle has moved from the streets to the courts. She says BlaBlaCar, which is now present in 22 countries, 14 of them in the EU, has safeguards in place to make sure it is not being used by professionals. Drivers can only charge 50 percent more than a price suggested by BlaBla, and cannot carry more than four passengers. BLABLA OR BUS? The BlaBlaCar case is typical of the legal situation. Entrenched transportation businesses are suspicious of a service, that started as social networking for people to share car costs, morphing The company disputes that this is the case. “For us, sharing a car is something that has always been done,” says BlaBlaCar public policy manager Elia Ferrer Travé. “Now because of the technology people to accuse that person of delivering transportation services.” result, bus ridership has gone down by around 20 percent. However, the judge ruled that other factors caused the decrease in bus usage, and that any “exceptional” case. UBER IN LUXEMBOURG The BlaBlaCar case is easier to resolve because the not be their prime motive. gain? Photo: Marco Fieber 08 — SHARING ECONOMY & EUROPE MAY 2017
Home-sharing site Airbnb is facing increasing restrictions around the world. Photo: Allie Michelle Even though it still calls itself a “ride-sharing app”, Uber is clearly an electronic platform for users to about Uber's struggles in Brussels). In 2015, a Spanish judge deferred a challenge to a ban on the Uberpop service, which allows drivers without a taxi license to sell rides, to the ECJ. After two years the court has yet to deliver a ruling. The crucial uestion is whether Uber, registered in border information service or as a local taxi service. The ECJ ruling could settle the legal uestion across Europe. “So far the cases are trending favourably toward the collaborative economy companies as a whole,” says Luc Delany from the collaborative economy forum EUCoLab. “I think its helpful to refer to the ECJ, but it would be preferable if the national courts felt able to interpret for themselves,” he added. Delany says that existing EU legislation, such as the services directive and rules on distance selling, should be enough to resolve these cases. “EU regulation is helpful at the moment and we need anything new. What we need is consistent application of European legislation.” (See interview with Luc Delany in later article) BERLIN’S AIRBNB BAN The legal challenges are not only in the transport sector. Home-sharing site Airbnb is facing increasing restrictions around the world. One of the strictest measures took effect in Berlin last year. The company's name is short for and breakfast - the original idea was that a traveller could meet new people and save money by staying on someones air mattress or couch. But the site has increasingly been used by professionals who rent out their unoccupied houses or apartments. Stephan von Kassel, the mayor of the central Berlin district of Mitte, has launched a crusade against Airbnb. He believes that 80% of offerings in his district are holiday apartments in which nobody permanently lives. Worse, he believes that a large proportion are SHARING ECONOMY & EUROPE MAY 2017— 09
