EU countries agree to collect data from tourist rental platforms such as Airbnb

03-02-23

• Proposed legislation aims to fight illegal holiday flats

The EU is continuing its efforts to regulate tourist rentals and platforms such as Airbnb and improve their transparency. In this context, the EU-27 competitiveness ministers on Thursday backed the proposed regulation to improve the collection of data from tourist rental platforms, such as Airbnb or Booking, so that this information is shared with the public authorities in each country.

According to the Swedish Minister for Energy, Enterprise and Industry and Deputy Prime Minister Ebba Busch, the regulation will benefit short-term accommodation stakeholders as "hosts will have a simple registration procedure, platforms will have a single set of rules for the information they have to provide, travellers will be better protected against fraud and authorities will be able to regulate based on accurate and reliable data".

The measure builds on a proposal put forward by the European Commission last November to improve the identification of owners of unregulated tourist accommodation and those who stay in them. This register would be presented in a harmonised way across the 27 countries, should be available online, and should disclose who the owners are, how much accommodation they rent and in which locations.

In fact, the disparity of regulations and methods that varies from one Member State to another makes it difficult to obtain information on tourist rentals. Thus, with this regulation, countries that collect data from platforms such as Airbnb will have to create a digital one-stop-shop system at national level.

The proposed regulation also aims to address the problem of the explosion of unregulated tourist rentals that has driven up long-term housing prices in many capital cities and exacerbated the lack of affordable housing.

The regulation, which will now go to the European Parliament for debate, establishes that any house, room or flat rented for a few days must have a registration number so that the authorities can know the identity of the host.

The Swedish minister stressed in a press conference that this proposal has been "negotiated in record time" and that the aim is to "facilitate the process of sharing data with the competent authorities".

The idea, moreover, is that platforms will have to carry out inspections to ensure that there are no false declarations or false registration numbers. The intention is that the regulation will create a level playing field for all players in the tourism sector and, in the process, combat fraud.

Airbnb attacks Barcelona for its restrictions

For its part, Airbnb has issued a statement in which it has positively assessed the initiative. The firm has judged that it will be positive for citizens who are excluded from the benefits of this type of accommodation "due to fragmented and disproportionate local regulations", which it also considers "are designed for large tour operators".

The platform has taken a swipe at Barcelona and Brussels, and has called on the EU to act against cities that impose excessive restrictions on short-term tourist rentals.

According to the company, Airbnb counts one million hosts in the EU, although three quarters only rent out one home. It also estimates that the average host earns €3,000 a year, according to data provided by Airbnb.