U.S. home-sharing site Airbnb on Thursday won its battle to remain exempt from onerous European property regulations, as the EU’s top court ruled it was an online platform and not a property agent.
The case came before the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) following a complaint by the French tourism association AHTOP.
The issue underlines the quandary regulators face in dealing with new online services venturing into traditional businesses, however not subjected to the same rules.
For Airbnb, the French case is significant as the International Olympic Committee has agreed to promote the company for accommodation during the 2024 Olympics in Paris.
Judges, in essence, accepted the company’s arguments that it is an online platform and not a property agent.
“The nature of the links between the intermediation service and the provision of accommodation did not justify departing from the classification of that intermediation service as an ‘information society service’,” the CJEU said.
The court also faulted France for not notifying the European Commission, the EU executive, of the requirement for Airbnb to hold an estate agent’s professional license.
Airbnb welcomed the judgment.
“We want to be good partners to everyone and already we have worked with more than 500 governments to help hosts share their homes, follow the rules and pay tax,” the site said in a statement.
Airbnb has in recent years dueled with hoteliers and authorities in cities from New York to Amsterdam, Berlin, and Paris, accused of worsening housing shortages and pushing out lower-income residents.
The case is C-390/18 Airbnb Ireland.
