Economia colaborativă la apus – recalificarea fiscală a operațiunii de transport alternativ de persoane
The Decline of the Sharing Economy – The Tax Reclassification of Alternative Passenger Transportation Services

Summary/Abstract: The article examines the profound transformations of the collaborative economy within the European Union, using alternative passenger transport as a case study for understanding how digital platforms reshape legal relationships. The authors show that the initial model of the collaborative economy ‒ described by the European Commission as “an emerging driver of growth and innovation in the EU” ‒ has entered a phase of intensified regulation, prompted by the deviation of practices from their original purpose and by the need to protect consumers, workers, and fair competition. The analysis highlights the central role of the digital platform which, although a third party to the transport contract, “determines essential elements such as the fare or the routeˮ, thereby exerting decisive influence over the contractual framework. From a regulatory perspective, the study explores the tension between the civil-law characterization of relationships among drivers, operators, and platforms, and the European trend toward introducing employment presumptions through Directive (EU) 2024/2831, alongside increased fiscal scrutiny by national authorities and emerging case law on platform liability. Recent jurisprudence ‒ including the decision of the Bucharest Court of Appeal of 12 March 2024, which found that “the driver refused to pick up the passenger and ignored his explanations regarding his disability”‒ signals a potential reconfiguration of platform responsibility through the recognition of a principal ‒ agent relationship. Overall, the article suggests that alternative transport has become a legal testing ground for a broader transition: from the promise of collaborative flexibility to a consolidated regulatory regime in which taxation, labour law, and civil liability converge to redefine the status of digital platforms.

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