The European Commission will propose light rules for Airbnb and other short-term accommodation rental companies, people familiar with the matter said.
Under the draft rules, short-term accommodation rental companies will have to provide national authorities with data on the number of users of their services and the number of nights spent, they said.
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The data will be stored at a single digital entry point accessible to all public authorities, one of the people said.
The proposal, which the EU executive will announce next week, marks an effort to tackle the patchwork of different national laws in the area of 27 countries regulating Airbnb and its peers.
Airbnb did not immediately respond Thursday to a request for comment on the draft plans.
The draft EU rules would be similar to Airbnb’s two-year data-sharing agreement with EU statistics office Eurostat
ago which allows public authorities to access data published quarterly on the number of people using its platform and
the number of nights reserved.
Authorities in Amsterdam, New York, Paris and other cities popular with tourists have accused Airbnb of worsening accommodation
shortages in their cities that have driven out low-income residents.
Small towns and those in the countryside, however, have been more welcoming, hoping to attract more tourists. The proposed EU legislation aims to balance the interests of both parties.
In recent years, Airbnb has tried to address these concerns by capping the number of days per year that homes can be rented out.
in the center of Paris, London and Amsterdam.
The proposed legislation will need to be debated with EU member states and the European Parliament next year before it can become law.
Read more: Airbnb announces increased profits as travel rebound persists
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