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.

The EU’s Member States have failed to agree on the introduction of a tax on revenues from digital services. But pressure from the European Commission, European Parliament and EU citizens indicate that this is not an issue that is going to disappear any time soon.

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.

What is the EU's new Platform-to-Business (P2B) regulation? With this short presentation, Inline Policy sheds the light on the proposed new European rules to govern the activity of intermediary online platforms, outlining their key provisions and the positons of the main EU institutions, as well as providing some insight on what is to be expected in the next upcoming months.

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.

Governments and regulators are actively considering how competition policy should respond to the growth of the digital economy. A forthcoming report from the European Parliament provides an insight into the state of the debate in Brussels.

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 positioned itself an avid supporter of the immersive tech sector. It is nurturing the fledgling domestic industry through a range of mechanisms, including funding, tax incentives, mentorship and practical support.

Tighter drone regulation is on its way all acorss Europe, with EASA about to finalise its long-awaited blueprint. But some of the more difficult questions remain unanswered. And they are set to the define the industry for many years to come.

Buried in the detail of a proposed Regulation from the European Commission was the establishment of an Observatory of the online platform economy. It has now been established and has a broad remit but little power, so far. Is this the foundation of a new EU regulator for online platforms?

Our ‘Brexit in Perspective’ infographic puts the UK’s decision to leave the EU in its broader context of European economic integration and maps the economic implications of the numerous political decisions available to the UK.