Collaborative platforms and market access in the EU law – in search of balance between liberalisation and protection of public interests

Monika Szwarc (Institute of Law Studies, Polish Academy of Sciences)

Abstract

The contribution analyses legal aspects of the functioning of collaborative platforms in the internal market of the European Union. The first objective is to provide for the legal classification of collaborative platforms' business activities from the perspective of the existing EU law guaranteeing the freedom to provide services. The analyses of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU), applicable EU Directives and the case-law of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) have been carried out in order to establish the legal standard applicable for the services provided by collaborative platforms in the internal market. The second objective closely related to the first one is to conclude on the rights of collaborative platforms and on the obligations (prohibitions) of Member States, stemming from the EU law. The realisation of these research objectives leads to the final conclusion whether these EU general provisions on the freedom to provide services in the internal market ought to be improved to ensure market access.

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