The Regulatory Context and Legal Evolution: The Cases of Airbnb and Uber

Abstract

Whilst sharing economy has been enjoying increasing popularity worldwide over the last decade; its legal definition has been debatable. This is aligning with the fact that the European Union has not provided the legal framework for the sharing economy yet, apart from a European Commission Communication from 2016. This Communication seeks a balance between the support of a Digital Single Market in the EU and the protection of the consumers’ rights and leaves a broad space for national legislations to respond to the phenomenon of sharing economy. The aim of this chapter is to address these issues within the framework of two sharing economy case studies: Airbnb and Uber as the only source at the EU level of applicable law besides the EC Communication.