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Sharing economy under the scrutiny of the European Court of Justice

  • 05/12/2016

Enterprises whose business is based on the sharing economy model do not offer their own goods and services, but simply manage a web platform and its own community, in which goods and services are offered by people belonging to such a community.

These enterprises, on the one hand, increase business opportunities and create new job  positions; on the other hand, are not covered by any legislation, operating both as digital intermediaries and as suppliers of services and goods.

A bill should be approved on this issue (at Camera dei Deputati with number 3564, and at Senato with number 2268). In the meanwhile, some indications may come from the European Court of Justice. Indeed, a Catalan judge asked the Court to deliver a decision on UberPop, a digital service which links passengers and drivers.

The Court of Luxembourg, after the hearing of 29th November, is now expected to give a legal framework for the sharing economy, clarifying whether the intermediation is to be considered a digital service or instead an activity of transportation services.

The decision of the European Court of Justice will be of paramount importance for the development of all enterprises, such as Uber, Airbnb, Blablacar, TripAdvisor, which make use of this new model of business.

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