Daniel Dalton, on behalf of the ECR Group. – Madam President, the rapporteur has tried very hard, but for us the platform report is far too restrictive, so we have tabled an alternative motion giving our more open, flexible vision.

Let us remember that the aim of the Digital Single Market is to help European companies to scale up in the same way that American companies do: an innovation—friendly environment. For that, there cannot be a one—size—fits—all approach to the sharing economy – especially for platforms. No two platforms are the same. You would not regulate banks and gardening centres in the same way, so why are we doing that with platforms?

Platforms are disruptive, but that is good. They offer new flexible employment options and better choice for consumers. The sharing economy matches unmet demand with unused resources; it is an economist’s dream. We want European platforms, but consumers do not care where the platform comes from. They want a good service, and the sharing economy empowers consumers in a way that has never been seen before. It also empowers workers. If platforms lose trust, they lose business and they lose their workers, so we need to be very careful in how we go forward with this. We have got a huge opportunity to shape a new vision, and we should get on with it and not restrict it.