Inline Insights

Today’s Financial Times reports on the developing conflict between UK electric vehicle charging market leader Ecotricity and its competitors. This points to a significant challenge for the Government’s efforts to establish a reliable national network of charging points that can underpin consumer confidence to switch away from petrol and diesel.

This week's top 3 stories: New ride-hailing laws in the Czech and Slovak Republics, Uber's latest employment status headache, and the EU imposes tariffs on Chinese e-bikes.

This week's top 3 stories: Lime's electric bikes hit London, Berlin data protection authorities investigate Mobike, Bird's lobbying probed by newspaper.

This week's top 3 stories: electric scooter trials in Germany, mytaxi launches Hive in Lisbon, Taxify runs into trouble in Prague.

This week's top 3 stories: France's long-awaited mobility law, Uber fined for data breaches, new funding for EV charging points in Germany.

This week's top 3 stories: Autonomous public transport in the UK, shared mobility statistics across the EU and have your say on the EU's mobility framework.

 A new Bill seeks to standardise electric vehicle charging points and introduce a universal pay-as-you-go-system. We take a look at the commercial and political context and the chances of the Bill becoming a law.

This week's top 3 stories: Ford and SEAT get in on the scooter action, Paris invites bids for car sharing schemes, Addison Lee loses its appeal.

While discussions continue on the European Commission’s proposals for a harmonised Digital Services Tax, a number of different approaches to taxing online service providers and platforms is emerging across Europe.  With the UK the latest EU country to consider going it alone, we look at who is proposing what when it comes to digital services taxes.

This week's top 3 stories: BMW and Daimler get the green light, Bird launches trial in London, new rise hailing rules in Portugal.

This week's top 3 stories: Report highlights licensing problems for UK taxi and private hire drivers, VW and Intel working on autonomous ride-hailing in Israel, electric scooters to be legalised in Germany. 

1. Going green in London

This week has seen a number of green initiatives in London's competitive ride-hailing market. With CEO Dara Khosrowshahi in town and on a charm offensive, Uber made a number of announcements, including that it will be adding £0.15 per mile to the price of every ride in London to create a fund to to help drivers switch to electric vehicles. With an aim of all Ubers in London being fully electric by 2025, the company also announced a number of measures to support the roll out of more charging points in London.

The UK Government has engaged a panel to review competition in digital markets, and one of the key themes is the concentration of 'big tech'. With the panel tasked with consulting industry and reporting by early 2019, companies seeking to influence the panel's thinking need to get started as soon as possible.

A public affairs agency can provide you with up-to-date policy and regulatory trends, analyse how they could impact your business, and use their network in the policy community to help you engage with decision makers. But how do you choose the right one for your business?

Innovation in the tech sector is moving at a rapid pace, and the companies driving these innovations are increasingly facing political and regulatory hurdles. A public affairs agency can help companies monitor trends in politics and regulation that may affect their business.

Policy and regulation can have a significant impact on companies in the tech sector, in terms of both their operations and their growth prospects. Keeping abreast of political and regulatory trends will help companies to spot potential threats or opportunities early on.