EU regulation of short-term rentals: What could change? | Euronews
In this report, euronews.next provides a good overview of the crucial role played by the European Union in regulating the short-term rental sector. The five main objectives of the proposed regulation are as follows:
1. The requirement to have a registration number in order to publish on booking platforms. The registration process to obtain this number must be simple and online.
2. “Compliance by design” for platforms: platforms must be designed in such a way as to encourage hosts to follow the rules. Basic rule: no registration number, no listing on the platform.
3. Authorities must have the power to remove advertisements that they suspect are illegal.
4. Booking platforms must carry out their own checks to ensure compliance with the rules.
5. the implementation of a single data collection point enabling the exchange of information between platforms and authorities.
Data collection will enable proportionate rules to be created and strengthen monitoring of their effective implementation. It is this latter objective that holds the key to the success of the European Union’s regulatory project. Our colleague from Amsterdam, Maarten Bruisma, points out in the report that STR-Belgium also made this argument to the European Commission (see position paper) during the consultation phase that preceded the regulatory proposal: hosts—whether professional or private individuals—have certain basic rights that the authorities cannot arbitrarily take away, and regulation must not have the (opposite) objective of reinforcing disproportionate rules. Unfortunately, this situation is currently being experienced in many European cities, and associations such as STR-Belgium have high hopes for the key role that the European Union will play in restoring balance and nuance.
