How did we get here? In 2014, a group called Elite Taxi in Barcelona asked a court in the city to impose penalties on Uber's operations in the country. The association claimed that Uber was engaging in unfair competition towards Elite Taxi's drivers, particularly with its UberPop service, which allowed non-licensed drivers to pick up passengers via the app. The case was escalated eventually to the European Union's highest court — the ECJ — for advice. Advocate General Maciej Szpunar said in May that, in his opinion, Uber is not an "information society service." To be considered such would mean the part of the service which is not made by electronic means is "economically independent" of the service. In Uber's case, the drivers would need to be "economically independent". Another factor to be considered is whether Uber provides the entire offering. For example, an online retailer has a website or app as well as shipping the goods it sells. In Uber's case, this would mean it essentially employs the drivers. Uber has said that its drivers do not work for the company and are independent. The ECJ advisor said that Uber does not meet either of these two conditions and is therefore a transportation company. The Computer & Communications Industry Association (CCIA), of which Uber is a member, said in a statement that the ECJ's ruling "effectively threatens the application of harmonized EU rules to online intermediaries." "After today's judgment innovators will increasingly be subject to divergent national and sectoral rules. This is a blow to the EU's ambition of building an integrated digital single market," said Jakob Kucharczyk, vice president for competition and EU regulatory policy at the lobby group.
Uber's European challenges Uber launched in Europe five years ago and has since had a number of clashes with regulators as well as traditional taxi companies which have protested against the U.S. firm, which is worth around $66 billion. In London, U.K., for example, Uber lost an appeal to a court which said that drivers on the platform must pass a strict English language test. In Italy, a court in Rome decided to suspend the app, but this injunction has been halted for now by a higher court. And in Denmark, Uber said in March it would shut down its operations in the country thanks to new rules.However, the company has made strides to work with regulators. It is still operating in most EU countries and last year relaunched UberX in both Berlin and Madrid after being banned in the country, after it complied with local laws. Greg Marsh, co-founder and CEO of onefinestay, told CNBC Wednesday that the majority of Uber drivers "really value" the company and the ride-hailing service was clearly "wildly popular" among consumers. "If the majority of people want to use it as consumers and if a large proportion of the people who want to participate in it as drivers want it to exist then it seems a bit illiberal to say that we should be preventing it from operating," he added.
Source: AFP
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