EU court rules Uber must be regarded as a transport company

A ruling by an representative of the Court of Justice of the European Union has dealt a potential blow to ride-hailing company Uber, saying it is not merely a digital enabler but provides a transport service, which means it must be licensed in order to operate.
May 11, 2017 Read time: 2 mins

A ruling by an representative of the Court of Justice of the European Union has dealt a potential blow to ride-hailing company 8336 Uber, saying it is not merely a digital enabler but provides a transport service, which means it must be licensed in order to operate.

In his ruling, Advocate General Maciej Szpunar, said the Uber electronic platform, whilst innovative, falls within the field of transport. Uber can therefore be required to obtain the necessary licences and authorisations under national law.

The case was brought in 2014 by a group of taxi drivers in Barcelona, Spain, which argued that Uber engaged in unfair competition with its UberPOP service, which used unlicensed drivers.

According to Reuters, Uber no longer operates UberPOP in Spain. The company said it would await a final ruling later this year, but added that even if it is considered a transportation company, this "would not change the way we are regulated in most EU countries as that is already the situation today".

The decision is not binding, but the court's judges follow it in most cases.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • EU project to make urban freight management more sustainable
    February 1, 2012
    Urban freight policies are becoming more common in European cities and regions. However, it is still difficult to evaluate and transfer the knowledge gained from the different city logistics measures implemented by local authorities. The SUGAR project aims to tackle this by establishing a systematic approach towards best practices identification and assessment, and by developing urban freight plans and actions.
    Read More
  • Righter shade of pale
    July 24, 2012
    Jon Tarleton, Quixote Transportation Technologies, Inc., talks about developments in mobile weather information gathering Quixote Transportation Technologies, Inc. (QTT) is promoting the greater use of mobile technologies to provide infill between fixed Road Weather Information System (RWIS) infrastructure. It is, the company says, a means of reducing the expense of providing comprehensive, network-wide coverage, particularly in geographic locations where the sheer number of centreline miles causes cost to
    Read More
  • IntelliDrive, connectivity, safety, mobility and the environment?
    January 30, 2012
    Shelley Row, Director of the ITS Joint Program Office, US Department of Transportation, details the new five-year ITS Strategic Research Plan. Imagine a world where vehicles of all types can talk to each other in order to reduce or eliminate crashes, where vehicles can talk to traffic signals to eliminate unnecessary stops, where travellers can get accurate travel time information about all modes and route options, and where transportation managers have data which allows them to accurately assess multimodal
    Read More
  • Huawei’s clearer vision for safe traffic
    August 4, 2020
    Rates of compliance with traffic laws are often linked to the chances of detection. Andrew Watson explains how intelligent traffic management solutions can help change drivers’ behaviour
    Read More

Highlighted Content