The Court of Justice of the European Union on the nature of the services provided by Uber

On 20 December 2017 the Court of Justice of the European Union issued a judgment in which it answered the question referred for a preliminary ruling from the Court in Barcelona on the legal classification of the services provided by Uber Systems Spain SL (Uber).

By providing a smartphone application Uber company enables non-professional drivers, who use their own vehicles, to connect with persons who are looking for a paid means of transport.

According to the Spanish law, providing taxi services requires obtaining an appropriate administrative authorisation. Asociacion Profesional Elite Taxi (an association of taxi drivers) claimed that Uber activities in the metropolitan area of Barcelona amount to acts of unfair competition and misleading practices as they are carried out without proper authorisations and licences.

The court in Barcelona stated that in order to assess facts of the case it should be first determined by the Court of Justice of the European Union whether the services provided by Uber should be regarded merely as transport services, electronic intermediary services or information society services within the meaning of the EU law.

In the answer to the question referred for a preliminary ruling the Court stated that intermediation service provided by Uber forms an integral part of an overall service of the transport service. The Court in its judgment underlined that Uber not only selects the drivers that then provide their services based on the application but also exercises decisive influence over the price of the service provided by those drivers.

Taking the above into consideration, the Court determined that services provided by Uber constitute transport services within the meaning of the Directive 2006/123/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 12 December 2006 and article 56 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union and that it is for the Member States to regulate the conditions under which these services should be provided.

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