The Gulf Time Newspaper One of the finest business newspapers in the UAE brought to you by our professional writers and editors.
Bloomberg
Denmark wants to bring the so-called sharing economy into its legal codex so that companies like Uber and Airbnb can be absorbed into the Scandinavian welfare model.
The Danish government sees little point in resisting the changes these companies represent. Instead, it’s putting forward a number of measures designed to fold the business concept into its tax and
labour laws.
“If you want people to understand the prospects, in terms of new jobs and new technology, then it also has to contribute to the financing of
the welfare society we live
in,†Business Minister Brian Mikkelsen said in an interview in Copenhagen.
The ministry estimates that about one-fifth of Danes have either offered or consumed the kinds of services provided
by Uber and Airbnb, a proportion Mikkelsen says is bound
to increase.
Denmark’s manifesto on how to handle the sharing economy comes as other governments consider bans on key parts of it. UberPop, a version of Uber that lets people to give rides without holding a license, has been suspended in France, the Netherlands, Finland, Sweden and Hungary.
In Norway, the government is looking into ways to come
up with new regulations to
deal with the app. Meanwhile, transport authorities in London have revoked Uber’s license and threatened to ban the service.