Commission and Parliament want to give Uber a free ride

MEPs and Commissioners look to creative solutions in dealing with member states on Uber.

The European Commission and Parliament gave a sympathetic ear to Uber on Thursday, despite the growing number of countries rejecting the ride-sharing service, including Spain, Germany, France and last month Portugal.

Uber took center stage at a working lunch with members of Parliament across the political spectrum, including Andreas Schwab, a German from the European People’s Party, and Elżbieta Bieńkowska, European commissioner for the Internal Market.

What the company wants is as controversial as its app: Uber asked political leaders to consider treating the company as a digital — not transport — service. The distinction is important: the EU has the power to regulate digital services under the 2006 Services Directive, but transport is largely left to the 28 member countries.

“Protectionism is denying Europeans growth and jobs,” warned Mark MacGann, head of public policy for Uber. “What’s holding us back is this rearguard protectionism in some member states.”

The Directorate-General for Mobility and Transport is currently dealing with Uber. They don’t have power over the Services Directive.

The sharing economy in Europe is estimated to be worth €10 billion and forecasted to grow to €250 billion in the next decade, according to Bieńkowska.

“This is a new way of doing business. We need to align with this, not fight it,” she said, adding, “This is a single market issue. This is definitely our job.”

Schwab agreed, but said he expected resistance from some countries.

“The problem is the law that allows us to intervene quickly on this excludes transport services,” he said, adding, “We could enlarge the services directive. But we have to be careful, if you go for a fight, you could have a long battle with no one winning but lots of losers.”

However, the tide could be slowly turning for Uber in Europe. The UK has embraced Uber, Belgium is set to follow suit, and the company continues to gain millions of users despite operating in a gray zone across much of the continent.

MacGann said some countries cracking down on the Uber app were beholden to powerful taxi cartels, which were cozy with politicians who prop up near-monopolies.

“Don’t get me started on France,” MacGann said. “In Paris one family has close to 70% of the taxi market. In other industries if one company had 70 percent of the market (the Directorate-General for Competition) would be knocking on their door.”

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