Webinar on the Digital Services Act and cities´ efforts for affordable housing”

Webinar: Watch the full recording:

The full study can be found HERE

In spring this year, many cities across Europe demanded more support in their struggle against short-term rental platforms, such as AIRBNB. The success of these online platforms have caused rising rents, disruption to community neighbourhoods, and leading to severe consequences for affordable social housing. Therefore, cities all over Europe are calling for a strong, legal obligation for platforms to better cooperate with public administrations. EU Commission’s Vice-President Vestager has promised majors a better cooperation between platforms and public authorities in the upcoming Digital Services Act (DSA). In order to find out how the two can work together, The Left in the European Parliament has commissioned a study on existing AIRBNB’s deals with cities, drafted by Murray Cox, community activist behind inside airbnb, and Kenneth Haar from Corporate Europe Observatory. In our webinar, the authors will present their study and discuss the main findings with:

• Martin Schirdewan, Co-President of The Left in the European Parliament (Moderation)

Presentation of the study on AIRBNB’s deals with cities by the authors:

• Murray Cox (insideairbnb.com)
• Kenneth Haar (Corporate Europe Observatory)

Discussion with:

• Athina Tsitsou, European Commission,
• Barbara Steenbergen, International Union of Tenants,
• Katalin Gennburg, Die Linke, Berlin,
• Leila Chaibi, MEP
• Michaela Kauer, Head of Brussels Office of the City of Vienna