At some point in the near future, whether this Summer, this Autumn, or next Winter, Europeans will start travelling again. Summer holidays are already being booked, plans being made to see family and friends living elsewhere, and events are hoping to attract international and professional crowds once again.

This situation, “where people may again travel freely and visit us”, is also anticipated “with eagerness” by cities of the alliance on Short Term Holiday Rentals in letters sent to the European Commission, Council of the EU and European Parliament.

“In this near future,” say the cities of Amsterdam, Barcelona, Berlin, Bologna, Bordeaux, Brussels, Florence, Krakow, London, Munich, Paris, Porto, Prague, Valencia, Vienna and Warsaw, “the phenomenon of Short Term Holiday Rentals will again play an important role.”

One problem, as previously highlighted in conversation between these cities and Executive Vice President of the European Commission Margrethe Vestager, is “the impact of unregulated growth of Short Term Holiday Rentals on our communities.”

The consequences of illegal rentals, for example, can include reducing the stock of houses intended for residential use, the increase of nuisances (e.g. noise disturbance) in city districts, and sometimes breaching other areas of public safety such as how many people can stay in one location.

With this in mind, the cities call for “a solid regulatory framework that can effectively help us enforce the national, regional or local rules that are in place,” along with appropriate regulatory tools that should be better defined in the EU’s Digital Services Act to solve the cross-border nature of this online service.

Read the letters in attachment on the right.

Read Eurocities response to the proposal on the Digital Services Act here