Congress Governance Committee adopts report on “Home sharing Platforms: Challenges and Opportunities for Municipalities” at its meeting on 10 February 2021.
Rapporteur Róbert-Csongor Grüman (Romania, EPP/CCE) highlighted the opportunities offered by home sharing platforms such as more accessible and affordable tourist accommodations and extra income for residents. He also recalled the negative impacts of the overgrowth of home sharing to the detriment of the residents, resulting in higher prices of accommodation and less available affordable housing.
The report aims at promoting long-term policies and legal and reglementary frameworks which foster sustainable development, fair play for all actors and improved protection of fundamental rights of both residents and tourists. Best practices such as registration and provision of data by platforms, as well as simplification of regulations and digitalisation of systems are promoted. The local and regional authorities are encouraged to have dialogue and partnership with platforms and with community stakeholders as well as to raise awareness about existing rules, to better enforce them. The report also points out that relevant policies need to be reviewed with appropriate political backing from different levels of governance.
“Platforms appears to be helpful when it comes to tax collection, sharing data with municipalities, enforcing limitations as well as to removing fraudulent listings,” stated Mr. Grüman.
The Committee also adopted a resolution and recommendation which will be sent to the Congress for adoption before the summer.
The resolution is addressed to the local and regional authorities and promotes a long-term policy vision and adequate and flexible regulatory framework, focused on sustainable development.
The recommendation asks national authorities to ensure legal certainty for local and regional authorities and the home-sharing platforms, creating safer digital space to protect human rights and establishing a level playing field to foster innovation and sustainable development. It also underlines that the local and regional authorities should be given increased power over the collaborative economy accommodation sector.
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