Communication: A European agenda for the collaborative economy

The collaborative economy creates new opportunities for consumers and entrepreneurs. The Commission considers that it can therefore make an important contribution to jobs and growth in the European Union, if encouraged and developed in a responsible manner. Driven by innovation, new business models have a significant potential to contribute to competitiveness and growth. The success of collaborative platforms are at times challenging for existing market operators and practices, but by enabling individual citizens to offer services, they also promote new employment opportunities, flexible working arrangements and new sources of income. For consumers, the collaborative economy can provide benefits through new services, an extended supply, and lower prices. It can also encourage more asset-sharing and more efficient use of resources, which can contribute to the EU’s sustainability agenda and to the transition to the circular economy.

At the same time, the collaborative economy often raises issues with regard to the application of existing legal frameworks, blurring established lines between consumer and provider, employee and self-employed, or the professional and non-professional provision of services. This can result in uncertainty over applicable rules, especially when combined with regulatory fragmentation stemming from divergent regulatory approaches at national or local level. This hampers the development of the collaborative economy in Europe and prevents its benefits to materialise fully. At the same time, there is a risk that regulatory grey zones are exploited to circumvent rules designed to preserve the public interest.

The collaborative economy is small but growing rapidly, gaining important market shares in some sectors. Gross revenue in the EU from collaborative platforms and providers was estimated to be €28 billion in 2015. Revenues in the EU in five key sectors almost doubled compared with the previous year and are set to continue expanding robustly. Growth has been strong since 2013 and accelerated in 2015 as large platforms invested significantly in expanding their European operations. Going forward, some experts estimate that the collaborative economy could add €160-572 billion to the EU economy. Therefore there is a high potential for new businesses to capture these fast growing markets. Consumer interest is indeed strong, as confirmed by a public consultation and a Eurobarometer poll.

This Communication aims at helping to reap these benefits and to address concerns over the uncertainty about rights and obligations of those taking part in the collaborative economy. It provides legal guidance and policy orientation to public authorities, market operators and interested citizens for the balanced and sustainable development of the collaborative economy, as announced in the single market strategy. This non-binding guidance on how existing EU law should be applied to the collaborative economy covers key issues faced by market operators and public authorities alike. It is without prejudice to initiatives that the Commission may take in this area in the future and to the prerogatives of the Court of Justice as regards the interpretation of EU law.

ESO: Background information: A European agenda for the collaborative economy http://www.europeansources.info/record/a-european-agenda-for-the-collaborative-economy/

EUR-Lex: SWD(2016)184: European agenda for the collaborative economy - supporting analysis http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:52016SC0184

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