eRated’s VP Partnerships, Matt Godwin spoke at the Commission’s annual Consumer Day conference on 16th March in Brussels on the topic of ‘New Trends in Consumption’.
Alongside Members of the European Parliament, industry leaders and academics, participants discussed the sharing economy’s disruption to established businesses, government policy-making making and trust in the sharing economy.
The discussion ranged from how to conceptualize the sharing economy to how to insure it. Are platforms where users are making money really the sharing economy, or are they being wrongly included in this rubric? Is this just a case of a rose by any other name?
EU policymakers are currently working on an EU-wide approach to the sharing economy, with EESC staff working towards a report on the sharing economy for 2015. As with the UK, policymakers are not only making the sharing economy a priority, but are putting it at the forefront of packed and dynamic economic and social agendas.
eRated was delighted to be joined by Marco Torregrossa, Managing Director of the European Sharing Economy Coalition. The Coalition was launched in 2013 at a public hearing of the EESC and is the first pan-European coalition of sharing economy organizations bringing together sector stakeholders to present one voice to EU legislators and policymakers.
Governments around the world are seeking a constructive relationship with sharing economy marketplaces and partners. As government’s attempt to find a way to chart a regulatory and legislative course, eRated welcomes the opportunity to play a positive role.
Marco and Matt both emphasized go-forward recommendations, with Matt highlighting recent progress in the UK. Drawing directly from the UK government’s ‘Unlocking the Sharing Economy: An Independent Review,’ Matt echoed the need for governments to make identity data available for sharing economy actors, which will help ensure a safer and more trusted space.
eRated’s mission is to build trust in the sharing economy as it continues to appear on European agendas in the future.