Tourist magnets such as Barcelona, Berlin and Paris are dissatisfied with the rental site Airbnb, and want the EU to limit the platform's progress.

Airbnb will now respond to the complaints.

For several years now, major tourist cities have been experiencing problems with the success of the rental website Airbnb. The hotelification of cities and inflated rental levels are the result of the expansion, according to residents and politicians in Berlin and Barcelona, for example.

Cities have tried in various ways to restrict rentals through sites like Airbnb. The hardest hit has been in Berlin, reports the website Politico, where rentals were completely stopped in 2016. Now the city is allowing them again, albeit with restrictions. Now Paris has had enough of Airbnb, and is trying to impose restrictions.

The cities have also asked the EU for help. But at the same time, lobby groups have argued that this violates EU rules on trade in services. The European Commission is now working to develop policy guidelines for the EU's e-commerce directive and services directive that specifically target platform companies like Airbnb. The Commission has now asked Airbnb for a response, and the company is due to present its views on Friday.

Source: TT