- Title: New EU court blow for Uber over French taxi case
- Date: 4th July 2017
- Summary: PARIS, FRANCE (FILE - JUNE 25, 2015) (REUTERS) BELGIAN TAXIS DRIVING BY WITH FLAGS TAXI DRIVERS STANDING HOLDING SPANISH AND BELGIAN FLAGS TAXI DRIVERS HOLDING BANNER READING (Spanish): "TAXI AGAINST UBER" BROKEN BOTTLES ON THE STREET PAVEMENT PAPER ON A TAXI FRONT WINDOW READING (French): "I AM TAXI!! AGAINST UBER"
- Embargoed: 18th July 2017 11:04
- Keywords: EU court adviser Uber illegal taxi service digital platform France taxis
- Location: LUXEMBOURG, LUXEMBOURG / PARIS, FRANCE
- City: LUXEMBOURG, LUXEMBOURG / PARIS, FRANCE
- Country: France
- Topics: Crime/Law/Justice,Judicial Process/Court Cases/Court Decisions
- Reuters ID: LVA0036OAY153
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text:Uber suffered a new setback in Europe on Tuesday (July 4) when an EU court adviser said France was entitled to charge local managers of the U.S. ride-hailing app firm with running an illegal taxi service.
Uber played down the non-binding opinion from an advocate general at the Court of Justice of the European Union (ECJ), saying it applied only to a service using unlicensed drivers known as UberPOP which it had already discontinued in France.
Judges will make a final ruling later this year. However, they generally follow the advice of their advocates general and the comments come two months after another opinion, which rejected Uber's argument that it was only a digital platform and so subject to less regulation than a transport firm.
The latest case before the ECJ was referred to it by a French court in Lille and concerns a 2014 French law on taxis and chauffeured services which makes it a criminal offence to organise illegal taxi services and sets restrictions on the use of software to find customers in the street.
In 2015, French angry taxi drivers invaded Paris' ring road, burning tyres and causing major traffic disruption. They were joined in their protests by taxi drivers from other European countries, such as Belgium and France. - Copyright Holder: FILE REUTERS (CAN SELL)
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