European Parliament adopts hoteliers' position on the collaborative economy

The European Parliament has taken up the position of the conventional regulated hotel industry by calling for a common strategy on the so-called collaborative economy on issues such as fair competition, workers' rights and taxation policy.

In a non-binding resolution, the European Parliament expresses the need to focus on gray areas of legislation that cause significant differences between member states due to disparity of national and local regulations and cases of law. 

Recommendations include, among others:

Individual vs. professional offerings: effective criteria are needed to distinguish between “individuals” (e.g., individual citizens offering services on an occasional basis) and “professionals”.

•Consumer rights: informing consumers about the rules applicable to each transaction and their rights. Collaborative platforms should put in place effective systems for complaints and dispute resolution,

Liability:the European Commission should also clarify the liability of collaborative platforms as quickly as possible.

•Workers' rights: minimum working conditions and adequate protection should be guaranteed for all workers in the collaborative economy. They should also accumulate electronic opinions that would give them a ranking, and that would constitute their “digital market value”,

• Taxation: similar tax obligations would have to be applied to activities offering comparable services, whether in the traditional or collaborative economy. The European Parliament recommends innovative solutions to improve tax compliance and calls on platforms to collaborate to this end.

Regulation should not, in any case, restrict the collaborative economy, particularly condemning regulations that some national authorities have imposed “seeking to restrict the supply of tourist accommodationístico”.

 The report, adopted in the Internal Market Committee by 31 votes in favor, 1 against and 3 abstentions, must be voted on in the plenary session of the Parliament at the session from June 12 to 15. 

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