A judgment of the European Court of Justice (CJEU) announced yesterday questions the restrictions on the activity of rental cars with a driver in force in Catalonia. Let's talk about what is also known as VTC. The text indicates that its activity cannot be restricted in order to protect the viability of the taxi. It does open the door to limiting it depending on other reasons, such as pollution or the needs of urban mobility.
The spread of the decision triggered very hidden joys in the offices of Cabify, Uber and Bolt, the large applications dedicated to the transport of passengers that barely work in Barcelona. The truth is that everything is still up in the air, this tremendously convoluted story of judges, taxi drivers and politicians is still far from the outcome. The day after tomorrow everything will remain the same. But suddenly there has been a crucial turning point. A lot of lawyers are working hard so that a year from now the scenario will be very different. And in the eyes of these multinationals, Barcelona is back on the map, no longer a strange anomaly.
Do you remember the Gallic town that always resisted against the invader? Well here, in Barcelona, the people responsible for these apps now think they can also do business. As in New York, in London, in Paris... For months now, employers in the sector, the owners of the licenses and the vehicles that work with these apps have been predicting in a heavy way that sooner or later the European justice system will overturn the Catalan regulations. And the Catalan regulations are still in force, but...
For the taxi drivers, the news caught them off guard, and while they celebrated the decision, they also announced new protests. "We are very satisfied - said Alberto Álvarez, alias Tito, of Élite Taxi, the main association of Catalan taxi drivers. In the metropolitan area, no new VTC license will enter. But this decision opens the door to an invasion of VTC in tourist areas such as the Costa Brava. The Ministry of Transport must authorize the councils to establish more restrictions. We ask the taxi drivers to make one last effort to take Gran Via and Passeig de Gràcia this Wednesday."
Europe reopened the taxi war. Many traders, restaurateurs, hoteliers and other entrepreneurs have been pushing for the liberalization of VTCs for a long time. They assure that the taxi of a lifetime cannot cover the mobility needs of a city that hosts ISE, Sónar, Mobile, Primavera Sound... Because Americans land, order an Uber and believe that the app has suddenly crashed.
At the moment dozens of owners of hundreds of VTC licenses who have been holding hands for months are finalizing numerous court appeals aimed at getting back to work as soon as possible. They hope that the judges will find them right, at least as a precaution. The definitive application at the beginning of the year of the decree law of the Generalitat so demanded by taxi drivers that at the time it was renamed as the Tito decree decimated this sector. Of the more than 4,000 VTC licenses in operation in Catalonia, barely 600 passed the selection process.
In order for these vehicles not to operate de facto as taxis, the Generalitat established very strict conditions, as they had to be 4.90 meters in length. For chauffeured rental cars to function as they have previously functioned. One of the objectives of this rule is to protect the taxi, understood as a public service and understanding that the liberalization of VTCs is also the liberalization of rates.
Some drivers who use the apps go out on the streets illegally, and others go out with one of the approximately one thousand extended licenses that the Generalitat forgot in a virtual drawer. In any case, the restrictions never allowed these apps to provide their services with the usual quality levels in many other big cities. Many VTC license owners are also considering demanding compensation from the administrations. For all the money they could have won and didn't. Ernst would consult her
However, this tremendously convoluted story is far from over. The day after tomorrow everything will remain the same. Isaque Leite, lawyer expert in competition law from the Baker McKenzie law firm, emphasizes that the High Court of Justice of Catalonia (TSJC) has yet to rule, and it will certainly take several months. This lawyer remembers that the judgment of the CJEU is actually a response to a question from the same TSJC asked five years ago. Then, owners of VTC licenses denounced the regulations then issued by the Metropolitan Area of Barcelona (AMB), which already restricted their activity. The TSJC understood that this rule could violate community rules, continues the lawyer, and that is why he formulated the query to the TJUE.
And the truth is that the answer refers to a rule that is not in force, but its considerations can be applied to those that are, such as the Generalitat decree, because they comply with Community law. And the CJEU thinks that protecting the taxi, even if it is a public service, is not a common interest that justifies restricting VTCs. Yes, they can be, for example, the care of the environment or the improvement of mobility. The interpretations of the rules certainly offer a few surprises. That's why there are so many white-collar lawyers.
