Activities of José BLANCO LÓPEZ related to 2017/2003(INI)
Plenary speeches (1)
European agenda for the collaborative economy - Online platforms and the Digital Single Market (debate) ES
Amendments (23)
Amendment 3 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. WelcomNotes the emergence of the collaborative economy in transport, accommodation and tourism services, acknowledginges that, with an appropriate regulatory framework in place, it has the collaborative economy has the potential to provide more varied and affordable services to customers and to boost new forms of cooperative exchanges between citizens in the EU, to enhance economic growth, social welfare and environmental protection and to boost new forms of cooperative exchanges between citizens by opening new work opportunities and new models of business; stresses however that appropriate regulatory frameworks need to be put in place, to cover employment, health and safety, disability rights and competition issues that arise from the new models;
Amendment 12 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 a (new)
Paragraph 1 a (new)
1 a. Urges the Commission to come up with appropriate measures to tackle the challenges that arise when European consumers are using online platforms headquartered outside the EU, in non- European cultural and regulatory contexts, particularly with regard to data protection, health and safety, taxation and employment laws;
Amendment 26 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Emphasises that ICTs allow innovative ideas within the collaborative economies to evolve quickly and efficiently, while connecting and empowering participants, reducing the need for intermediation, making remote areas more accessible, decreasing direct costs and overheads, channelling rich information flows and reinforcing trust between peers;
Amendment 31 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2 a (new)
Paragraph 2 a (new)
2a. Believes that, for a platform to be considered collaborative, it is vital that exchanges of goods and services take place primarily between equal partners; warns in this regard against the proliferation on the ‘collaborative economy’ ticket of platforms acting as actual service providers rather than just intermediaries;
Amendment 34 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2 b (new)
Paragraph 2 b (new)
2b. Endorses the findings of the EESC opinion on the ‘Sharing economy and self-regulation’ regarding the need for new collaborative platform business models to comply with applicable EU and national law, especially with regard to workers’ rights, appropriate taxation, data protection and privacy, social rights, fair competition, the prevention of monopolies and anti-competitive practices, accountability of platforms regarding transactions between partners, ensuring the legality thereof, and, above all, protection of the rights of all stakeholders in the sharing economy, including ‘prosumers’, by adapting all existing EU consumer rights provisions accordingly;
Amendment 40 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Underlines that the sharing of underused assets releases a wealth of positive environmental and other externalities, thus making industries and services more resource-efficient, lowers the up-front costs of market entry and creates opportunities; warns nonetheless of a tendency for online platforms to generate monopoly markets and urges the Commission and the Member States accordingly to be vigilant in order to avert the harmful effects of these anticompetitive practices;
Amendment 46 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Stresses that, in the context of the collaborative economy, issues related to consumer protection, liability allocation, insurance schemes, social protection of workers (whether they are employed or self-employed) and data protection are the most urgent ones, and expects a regulatory intervention in that regard; eunderlines particularly the risks of unclear employment relations, unfair working conditions and non-compliance with workers' rights; stresses that there is a strong need to clarify the working relationship between workers and collaborative platforms; 3a Emphasises that a regulatory framework should create a level playing field, foster innovations and contribute to the overall development and fulfilment of the EU transport policy goals, such as transport decarbonisation, territorial cohesion, modernisation of all urban and rural infrastructures also linked to public transport services, affordability, accessibility for all users and safety;
Amendment 56 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Points out that collaborative economies thrive particularly in communities in which knowledge- and education-sharing models are strong, thereby consolidating a culture of open innovation, supporting open- sourced hardware and software, and expanding our heritage of common goods and creative commons;
Amendment 57 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 a (new)
Paragraph 4 a (new)
4a. Considers that collaborative platform reputation management mechanisms based on user assessment provide a great deal of verifiable information regarding the goods or services exchanged; warns, however, of the need to ensure that these mechanisms do not obstruct users seeking to leave the platforms;
Amendment 59 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 b (new)
Paragraph 4 b (new)
4b. Urges the Commission and Member States to consider mechanisms for users’ reputations within platforms to be transferred, accompanying users to other competing or complementary platforms, so as to avoid the creation in this connection of barriers to exit or transfer between platforms;
Amendment 62 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Urges the Commission to ensure thatPoints out that recent studies and judgments have revealed the subordinate relationship between ‘collaborative platforms’ and the service providers making use of them, together with the existence of contractual relations that are not accepted by such platforms; calls on the Commission therefore to encourage the EU to develops the highest international standards regarding (a) social protection for ‘workpreneurs’ in collaborative economieworkers’ rights and their social protection in collaborative economies by identifying clear indicators for recognition of a contractual relationship between platforms and their service providers, (b) safety guarantees for the customers of collaborative economies, and (c) cohabitation synergies with traditional business models;
Amendment 69 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Urges the Commission to ensure that the EU develops the highest international standards regarding (a) workers' rights and social protection for ‘workpreneuall workers’ in collaborative economies, (b) safety guarantees for the customers of collaborative economies, and (c) cohabitation synergies with traditional business modelsdevelopment of the collaborative economy and synergies with traditional business models (d) respect of privacy and protection of personal data;
Amendment 81 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Calls on the Commission and on Member States to open non-exclusive, experimentation-oriented spaces for collaborative economies and to promote guidelines on this matter in European, national and local legislationto create a common and harmonized EU regulatory framework for collaborative economy that promotes a coherent approach at all levels of government according to the principles of subsidiarity, while fostering digital connectivity and literacy, supporting European entrepreneurs and incentivising Industry 4.0 hubs;
Amendment 91 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
7. Calls on the Commission to ensure that EU legislation and policies are future- friendly and provide legal certainty in order to ensure tax compliance, while unleashing the full potential of collaborative economies for EU businesses and citizens, while redefining and modernising – where necessary – the concepts of ‘work/service’, ‘worker’ and ‘service provider’;
Amendment 100 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Urges the need to clearly distinguish between legitimate ride-sharing and the provision of commercial transporting services (i.e. ‘'non- professional’' vs ‘'professional’' service provision) in EU terminology, and; believes that all work in the collaborative economy should be classified accordingly, avoiding the spontaneous creation of new hybrid categories for workers; urges the Commission to come up with proposals to adapt Union legislation accordingly; considers the monetary threshold to be , assessing the possibility to extend traditional protectiones advisable way to make this distinctionnd social security protections established at national level by the Member States, to all workers in the collaborative economy;
Amendment 101 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 7 a (new)
Paragraph 7 a (new)
7a. Urges the Commission and Member States to provide more clarity on rules applicable to collaborative economy, especially in field such as provision of services, consumer's protection and labour market;
Amendment 108 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 8 a (new)
Paragraph 8 a (new)
8a. Underlines the importance to prevent the creation of monopolies in collaborative economy, which are non- transparent and resulting in an asymmetrical relationship between collaborative platforms, service providers and consumers;
Amendment 110 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 8 b (new)
Paragraph 8 b (new)
8b. Encourages the Commission to create a level playing field among collaborative platforms, which highlights the importance of identifying and mitigating market barriers. In particular, stresses the importance to guarantee the free flow of data, data portability and interoperability between the market platforms. These measures would ensure that market participants, whether service providers or consumers, could subject the market platform itself into competition;
Amendment 111 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 8 c (new)
Paragraph 8 c (new)
8c. Calls on the Commission to support the economic growth of the collaborative economy by measures aiming to reduce the administrative burden on individuals and businesses without discriminating between business models;
Amendment 112 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 8 d (new)
Paragraph 8 d (new)
8d. Underlines the importance, for the fast-growing of this sector, of access to risk capital and calls on the Commission to promote initiatives on this direction;
Amendment 113 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 8 e (new)
Paragraph 8 e (new)
8e. Notes that collaborative economy has been developing more in areas, where urban conditions such as population density and physical proximity favours the adoption of collaborative economic models. However, collaborative economy could offer also opportunities to reinvigorate the economy in less populated remote areas in sectors such as tourism. Therefore, it would be vital to develop an effective regulatory framework and policies that enhances collaborative economy models in remote areas which could also be beneficial for SMEs;
Amendment 118 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Calls on the Member States to establish measures to reduce the risk and possibility of the occurrence of grey economy activities and tax avoidance in accordance with collaborative economy services, and invites the Commission to facilitate an exchange of best practises between tax authorities and stakeholders with a view to developing appropriate solutions for payments of taxes in the sharing economy; is of the opinion that online platforms already operating in the EU, although headquartered outside of it, could be invited to appear in the extended TAXE II committee of the EP in relation to their tax arrangements;
Amendment 147 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 8
Paragraph 8
8. CEncourages the Member States and the Commission to support initiatives and actions to favour more research and fact-funding on the development and the impact of the collaborative economy in EU transport policy; calls on the Commission to include representatives of the collaborative economy in stakeholder dialogues and impact assessment procedures.