 |
Esta decisão do
Tribunal Europeu de Justiça é absolutamente desastrosa para as cidades
Europeias que tentam combater o efeito pernicioso e devastador que as
plataformas de Alojamento Local têm na espiral especulativa no Imobiliário e no
preço da Habitação. Além do seu papel estimulador do Turismo de MassaS e
respectiva destruição da Identidade Local e respectivos equilíbrios sociais e
culturais.
O Vereador da
Habitação de Amsterdão, Laurens Ivens já
reagiu e vai no contexto do grupo de ‘10 European cities’ e em
conjunto com estas cidades , pressionar a Comissào
Europeia para uma modificação da Legislação a nível Europeu e um reconhecimento
definitivo do problema.
OVOODOCORVO
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Airbnb is
not an estate agent, EU court rules
By Chris
Fox
Technology
reporter
19 December
2019
The
accommodation-booking service Airbnb does not need an estate agent's licence to
operate in France, Europe's top court has ruled.
The French
tourism association had complained that Airbnb did not comply with French
property laws.
It means
the app's users avoid a threat of disruption to its service in the country.
Had the
court ruled the other way it would have served as a precedent for other EU
regulators.
The Court
of Justice of the European Union (CJEU)'s decision was based on its
determination that Airbnb was an "information society service" rather
than a property broker.
The judges
involved also drew a distinction between Airbnb and Uber on the basis of how
much control the property-booking app had over transactions on its service.
Airbnb said
it would "move forward and continue working with cities".
What was
the case about?
Airbnb is
designed to let people rent out spare rooms or entire properties to
holiday-makers on a short-term basis.
France's
Association for Professional Tourism and Accommodation (AHTOP) complained that
Airbnb was acting as an estate agency without a licence, breaching a local act
known as the Hoguet Law.
Airbnb
argued that it was protected by EU laws on "electronic commerce".
What did
the court find?
The CJEU
said it was satisfied that Airbnb was an "information society
service" rather than an estate agent because:
In addition,
it said the French authorities had failed to inform the European Commission
about the Hoguet Law at the time the EU directive on electronic commerce was
being prepared.
It
suggested France's "failure to fulfil its obligation" could be used
as a defence in future court cases.
Why is
Airbnb different to Uber?
In December
2017, the CJEU ruled that car-sharing company Uber was a taxi firm and not
simply an "information society service".
The CJEU
said the case against Airbnb was "unlike" the one made against Uber,
because it could not establish that Airbnb had a "decisive influence"
over the accommodation offered on its platform.
Airbnb does
not determine the rental price charged for property, and lets customers choose
which home to rent.
In
contrast, Uber sets the fare for rides in its app, and assigns each passenger a
driver
Press
release ‘Cities alarmed about European protection of holiday rental
In a case
at the Regional Court in Paris, involving AIRBNB Ireland, the investigating
judge decided to refer to the EU Court of Justice to ask for a preliminary
ruling on whether the services provided in France by AIRBNB Ireland, benefit
from the freedom to provide services, laid down by the so called E-commerce
Directive of the European Union.
The
Advocate General’s opinion on this to the Court (published April 30, 2019) is
affirmative to this question.
This will
have, we fear, one major implication: Homes needed for residents to live and
work in our cities, will become more and more considered as a market for
renting out to tourists. We think that cities are best placed to understand
their residents’ needs. They have always been allowed to organize local
activities through urban planning or housing measures. The AG seems to imply
that this will simply no longer be possible in the future when it comes to
Internet giants.
The threats
and risks for the social and livable configuration of our cities are evident.
European
cities believe that homes should be used first and foremost for living in. Many
cities suffer from a serious housing shortage. Where homes can be used more
lucratively for renting out to tourists, they disappear from the traditional
housing market, prices are driven up even further and housing of citizens who
live and work in our cities is hampered.
Cities must
protect the public interest and eliminate the adverse effects of short term
holiday rental in various ways. More nuisances, feelings of insecurity and a
‘touristification’ of their neighbourhoods is not what our residents want.
Therefore (local) governments should have the possibility to introduce their
own regulations depending on the local situation.
For this,
we need strong legal obligations for platforms to cooperate with us in
registration-schemes and in supplying rental-data per house that is advertised
on their platforms.
Platforms
like Airbnb have exact rental data and they provide numerous services to guide
the supply, simplify the process and influence the prices. Yet, according to
the AG’s opinion, they would have no obligation at all to provide
municipalities with information about the rentals to help them prevent
violations of local or national regulations, for instance on the maximum number
of days allowed. Enforcement would be for the authorities concerned alone,
which have to identify anonymous addresses (data held by platforms), which
places an excessive burden on public funds.
Where
platforms claim that they are willing to cooperate with the authorities, in
practice they don’t or only do so on a voluntary basis.
One thing
must be clear: A carte blanche for holiday rental platforms is not the
solution.
We will
continue to address the housing shortages in our cities and continue to ensure
that our cities remain livable. We sincerely hope for the cooperation of the
new European Parliament and the incoming European Commission.
Amsterdam,
other cities sound alarm after EU court Airbnb legal advice
HousingTech & Media June 19, 2019 Photo:
DutchNews.nl
Amsterdam
is one of 10 European cities which have asked the EU for more support in their
campaign to reduce holiday rentals via websites such as Airbnb. The cities have
sounded the alarm now the advocate general of the European Court of Justice has
said Airbnb should be seen as an information provider and cannot be held
responsible for landlords’ compliance with holiday letting rules. Airbnb, the
advocate general said in April, should be seen as an online service connecting
potential guests with hosts offering short-term accommodation. European Court
judges normally follow their advisers’ non-binding opinions. ‘Homes needed for
residents to live and work in our cities, will become more and more considered
as a market for renting out to tourists,’ the 10 cities, which includes
Barcelona and Bordeaux, say in a statement. ‘We think that cities are best
placed to understand their residents’ needs. They have always been allowed to
organize local activities through urban planning or housing measures. The AG
seems to imply that this will simply no longer be possible in the future when
it comes to internet giants.’ In particular the cities are concerned that the
AG suggests enforcing local rules would be up to the councils themselves. They
would have to ‘identify anonymous addresses (data held by platforms), which
places an excessive burden on public funds,’ the cities said. In March
Amsterdam’s housing chief Laurens Ivens broke off talks with Airbnb,
Booking.com and HomeAway/Expedia on controlling holiday rental excesses had
broken down and that the council would be taking its own measures to stop
illegal home rentals to tourists.
Read more
at DutchNews.nl:
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