A victory was granted, Thursday, December 19, by European justice to Airbnb against an organization of French hoteliers.

The Court, based in Luxembourg, considered that the tourist rental platform between individuals was a service covered by a European directive of 2000 on electronic commerce and could not be forced to comply with the rules of the profession of real estate agent, as argued by the Association for accommodation and professional tourism (AhTop) at the origin of the case.

The latter is now calling on the authorities to regulate competition from the platform in France, its second largest market in the world.

Airbnb welcomes this decision

In 2017, the French hotel association had filed a civil action complaint against the platform, accusing it of violating the French rules applicable to real estate agents (Hoguet law) who must subscribe to a financial guarantee and have a professional card.

The Court, questioned in the context of this complaint by a Parisian investigating judge, followed the conclusions of its advocate general, holding that Airbnb could contest the application of measures restricting the freedom to provide services such as those of the law Hoguet, insofar as this law had not been notified by the French State under the conditions provided for by the European directive.

Airbnb welcomed this decision. "We welcome this judgment and want to move forward by continuing to work with cities on clear rules, which allow families and local communities to become actors of sustainable tourism", reacted the platform in a statement sent to AFP.

"Major risk for players in the real economy"

The AhTop, for its part, considered that the Court's judgment was a "blank check for Airbnb", and pinned the European directive on which it is based. "It poses a major risk to players in the real economy, the only job creators, who bear the brunt of competition from platforms," ​​deplores the association.

Its president Serge Cachan considered "urgent that the government make its voice heard in the coming months to radically transform the rules of competition in the European Union". He also indicated that it was up to the French state to "comply with European rules so that (the) measures (of Hoguet law) can be applicable to Airbnb Ireland", which manages the group's activities in Europe.

In intramural Paris, Airbnb offers some 65,000 accommodations, while the hotel offer is 80,000 rooms in the capital.

Across France, the second market for Airbnb after the United States, more than 600,000 accommodations are advertised on the platform.

With AFP

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