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Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs

Collaborative economy studies

Studies on the short-term accommodation sector, the business and regulatory environment, platform workers and the economic development of the collaborative economy.

The collaborative short-term accommodation sector

As part of the European Commission's effort to monitor the development of the collaborative economy, a study was undertaken to assess regulation affecting the collaborative economy in the short-term accommodation sector. The study aims to provide a description and preliminary assessment of the regulatory environment in EU countries while taking into account the dynamics and on-going changes in the sector.

Study on the assessment of the regulatory aspects affecting the collaborative economy in the tourism accommodation sector in the EU (2018)

Monitoring the business and regulatory environment

This study assesses the business environment in the collaborative economy across 6 themes (accommodation, transport, finance, public administration, business support and alignment) in EU countries. The study developed a 'Collaborative Economy Index' to measure and benchmark the openness of regulatory environments and the supportiveness of administrative actions.

Study to monitor the business and regulatory environment affecting the collaborative economy in the EU (2018)

Monitoring the economic development of the collaborative economy

This study measured how developed the EU collaborative economy is in the transport, accommodation, finance and online skills sectors. The size of the collaborative economy was estimated at €26.5 billion (0.17% of EU GDP in 2016) and provides work for 394,000 people (0.15% of EU employment).

Study to monitor the economic development of the collaborative economy at sector level in the 28 EU Member States (2018)

Platform workers in Europe

This Joint Research Centre (JRC) Science for Policy report helps to estimate the scale of platform work, outline the main characteristics of platform workers, their working conditions and motivations, and describes the type of services provided through digital employment platforms. It is based on a survey of over 32,000 people across 14 EU countries.

Platform workers in Europe (2018)