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One of the various cleavages currently characterising the public debate on the ‘sharing economy’ sees
those in favour of no regulation and of letting platforms self-regulate opposed by the proponents of strict
regulations and bans. In between these two extremes a consensus is emerging that recognises platforms
cannot stand above the law but neither should they be stifled by outdated regulatory regimes (Einav et
al. Edelman & Gerardin , 2015). On the other hand, as pointed out by law scholars (i.e., King, 2015;
Lougher & Kalmanowicz, 2016), it cannot be ruled out that ‘sharing economy’ platforms will raise serious
competition policy challenges such as concentration through network effects (single dominant player),
locking in parties located on one side (lack of real multi- homing possibility), power to reference rivals and
users with risks of collusions and discrimination.

In 2014, the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) in an opinion on the ‘sharing economy’
called the Commission to take appropriate action to ensure both the right conditions for innovation and
consumer protection (EESC, 2014, p. 2 and 9).

In May 2015, the European Commission’s Digital Single Market Strategy recognised the exponential growth
of new platforms, as well as identified opportunities and challenges of the collaborative economy, such
as platforms controlling access to online markets and exercising significant influence over other players in
these markets. (European Commission. A Digital Single Market Strategy for Europe, COM(2015) 192.)

In June 2016, the European Commission issued the further elaborated European Agenda for the
Collaborative Economy (European Commission. A European agenda for the collaborative economy,
COM(2016) 356 ). This document provides a broad legal definition of the collaborative economy business
models and includes guidelines for Member States on the application of EU Law, with the regulatory
challenges of the collaborative economy raised in five critical legal areas: (1) market access requirements;
(2) liability of online platforms, (3) consumer protection, (4) self-employed and work- ers in the
collaborative economy and (5) taxation.

While the European Commission’s European Agenda for Collaborative Economy provides comprehensive
guidance on the application of existing (i.e. de lege lata) EU law in the five above-mentioned areas to
innovative collaborative business models, it has over-looked the opportunity also to provide guidance on
the application of EU Competition Law (which, as current developments show, raises issues for the parties
involved). We will be attentive to the future evolution of this regulation.

3.2 Pros and cons of sharing economy

Sharing economy involves 3 broad groups:

1. Service providers who share assets, resources, time and/or skills. These can be private individuals
offering services on an occasional basis (“peers”) or service providers acting in their professional capacity
(“professional service providers”).

2. Users of these services.

3. Intermediaries that connect them and facilitate transactions between them, via an online platform.
Transactions in the collaborative economy generally do not involve a change of ownership and can be car-
ried out for profit or not-for-profit.