December 20, 2017

Brussels, BELGIUM --  The Court of Justice of the EU (CJEU) has issued a long awaited ruling that could have a broad impact in shaping Europe’s digital economy. The CJEU ruled today that Uber is a transport company rather than a digital platform that connects riders with drivers.

The case could impact how technology companies expand operations in Europe and whether they face one European set of rules or different regulations from each of the 28 Member States.

The ruling is seen as impacting the next generation of startups more than Uber itself, as Uber already abides by various rules in major EU cities where the ride sharing service is offered.

The Computer The Computer & Communications Industry Association represents a range of technology companies from telecommunications to Internet services and has advocated for decades in favour of innovation and competition that brings advantages to consumers and society at large. The following statement can be attributed to Jakob Kucharczyk, Vice President, Competition & EU Regulatory Policy:

“We regret the judgment effectively threatens the application of harmonized EU rules to online intermediaries. The purpose of those rules is to make sure online innovators can achieve greater scalability and competitiveness in the EU, unfettered from undue national restrictions. After today’s judgment innovators will increasingly be subject to divergent national and sectoral rules. This is a blow to the EU’s ambition of building an integrated digital single market.”

Contact:

Heather Greenfield hgreenfield@ccianet.org

Jakob Kucharczyk jkucharczyk@ccianet.org

About CCIA:

The Computer & Communications Industry Association is an international, nonprofit association representing a broad cross section of computer, communications and Internet industry firms. CCIA remains dedicated, as it has for over 40 years, to promoting innovation and preserving full, fair and open competition throughout our industry. Our members employ more than 750,000 workers and generate annual revenues in excess of $540 billion. For more, please go to: www.ccianet.org