Citizens' Dialogue in Florence with Commissioner Elżbieta Bieńkowska

The collaborative economy is here to stay – but we also need standards

Commissioner Elżbieta Bieńkowska 

Commissioner Elżbieta Bieńkowska discussed with Nicola Danti, MEP, as well as the Mayor of Florence, Dario Nardella, and some 60 people about the collaborative economy and its impact on society. The three politicians agreed that the platform based sharing economy needs standards and that voluntary guidelines are not sufficient.

The Citizens’ Dialogue in the landmark Palazzo Vecchio of Florence focused on the importance and impact of the collaborative economy. Commissioner Bieńkowska explained that there are currently more than 700 platforms for the collaborative economy in Europe.

While 9 out of 10 customers see this form of economy positive – from bike sharing to services for the elderly or handicapped people, but also from AirBnB to Uber – there is a need for more common approaches.

This view was not only shared by her two stage partners, but also by many people in the audience. In a city such as Florence, where tourism plays a big role, but where retail commerce is also an important part of the local economy, the chances and risks of the shared economy are closely related.

As the President of ConfCommercio, the Italian confederation of enterprises, underlined, there is a unique chance to overcome the crisis of production and distribution in the country through platforms, but there is also a need to make sure that in the platform economy taxes and social security contributions are paid as in other enterprises.

Both MEP Danti and Commissioner Bieńkowska emphasised that there is a need for some framework regulation at the European level. “We have today 28 national and hundreds of regional and local rules.” Nicola Danti explained.

For the member of the European Parliament’s Committee on the internal market and consumer protection this means working on various aspects of the collaborative economy, such as fiscal rules, the character of our cities, but also the promotion of European platforms.

“There is one simple principle for the platform economy: accept your responsibilities!” Mr Danti said. “It is a part of the future and should not be criminalized but regulated.”

Commissioner Bieńkowska said that voluntary measures for platforms do not work. She highlighted that in Sweden and Estonia good examples have already emerged - as soon as a platform is set up and starts business operations it registers and pays its taxes and other duties.

The Commissioner in charge of the internal market underlined that a strong European economy needs strong standards for the shared economy. She said that no single Member State is able to regulate the big platforms, but a strong EU can achieve this.

A final aspect that was raised by the audience was a question on whether the shared economy has a different impact on cities and rural areas.

Commissioner Bieńkowska emphasized that there is no natural opposition between rural and municipal areas, but that the social economy has the potential to link cities and their surroundings more closely.