The Third Chamber raises a preliminary ruling to clarify whether the Spanish regulation affects the freedom of establishment of platforms such as Uber or Cabify
The Supreme Court has agreed to refer a preliminary ruling to the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) to clarify whether it is compatible with the freedom of establishment to impose chauffeur-driven vehicles on other urban transport services, such as VTC driving licenses (Tourism Vehicle with Driver), restrictions on the principle of proportionality. A measure aimed at ensuring the compatibility and complementarity of these other models of the same activity with those of taxis.
The Third Section of the Controversial Administrative Chamber also asks whether it is compatible with the freedom of establishment to set a maximum share of permits related to taxi permits, as agreed in Spanish law of one VTC for every 30 taxis. In addition, it will consult the Luxembourg court on whether the violation of this scale is compatible with the prohibition of state aid referred to in Article 107 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union.
The court agrees to suspend the appeal filed by Maxi Mobility Spain, the main company with which Cabify is active in Spain, until the judgment of the CJEU, against the resolution of the Community of Madrid that her request for 1,000 rental car revocations rejected chauffeur-driven vehicles.
In its decision, the chamber requests that the question raised be combined with that formulated by the Supreme Court of Catalonia (TSJC) on this issue, as it considers that the conclusion reached by this court on the case law of the Supreme Court is not appropriate at reality.
Likewise, before the CJEU, it reveals its own doctrine supporting the possibility of imposing restrictions on the activities of the VTC supported by the administration, on the understanding that maintaining a public taxi service, subject to strict regulations, under a particular urban transport concession constituted “a legitimate objective of government, the safeguard of which may be ensured by an overriding reason in the public interest”.
Likewise, the Chamber explains that the taxi service is of “public interest” from the perspective of national law and that in its 2018 ruling it already endorsed the restrictions on the activity of the VTC. The order of 23 pages is written by Judge Eduardo Espín and the President of the Chamber is César Tolosa.
According to the resolution, the Spanish national regulation considers the maintenance of a taxi service as a form of urban transport of a vehicle with a driver of general interest and therefore subjects it to strict administrative regulations to ensure quality objectives, user protection, transport policy and environmental policy, including tariff control. In the light of this national regulation, the Chamber has the following doubts:
– Is it compatible with the freedom of establishment to impose restrictions on other urban transport services for chauffeured vehicles, such as VTCs, while respecting the principle of proportionality to ensure the compatibility and complementarity of these other models of the same activity with taxis?
– If the previous question is affirmative, is the provision of urban transport services for vehicles with drivers other than taxis compatible with the freedom of establishment, the specific restrictive measure to fix a maximum share of licenses in relation to taxi licenses, such as those established by the Spanish legislation of 1/30, in its specific application by the competent authority subject to the principle of proportionality?
– Is it compatible with the state aid prohibition referred to in Article 107 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union the restrictive measure for VTCs to establish a license ratio of 1/30 as mentioned in the previous question?
The Third Chamber wants to know about these matters in order to give more legal certainty to its resolutions on this matter, especially after the regulation adopted by the government that could affect principles relating to the freedom to conduct a business.
Source: La Verdad
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