EESC opinion
"There is a clear need to provide information and to raise awareness about collaborative consumption. Collaborative consumption can meet social needs in situations where there is no commercial interest and it can help, as a for-profit activity, to create jobs."
/Bernardo Hernández Bataller/
On 21 January 2014, the EESC endorsed an opinion on collaborative or participatory consumption and called for further action at EU level.
Given the complexity and scale of the emergence of collaborative consumption, the EESC wishes to:
- regulate practice within these forms of consumption, in order to establish the rights and responsibilities of all the stakeholders involved;
- identify any potential barriers to these activities;
- set up a database to pool experience.
Consumers purchase tools and utensils they never manage to use often enough to justify the price they paid. Collaborative consumption offers an alternative to the excesses caused by the previous century's hyper-consumption and the immense inequalities it created, such as the unnatural coexistence of hunger and obesity, or waste and precariousness. Its positive effects are, among others:
- lower resource consumption and CO2 emissions, higher demand for good quality products if the products are to be lent, hired or repaired;
- eco-design benefiting a number of different users;
- durability and repeated customization of compatible products;
- social interaction, community development and trust among individuals;
- access to high-quality products for lower-income consumers.
Moving towards more rational consumption also addresses market dysfunctions such as built-in obsolescence, since many designers in the field of collaborative consumption base their work on the development of hardwearing products that can be used by many people or last individual consumers or users a lifetime, which also makes them powerful allies in the war on waste.
Boosting partnerships in collaborative consumption______
Thursday, 3 July 2014
13:45 – 14:30 / REGISTRATION AND WELCOME COFFEE
14:30 – 14:40 / WELCOME ADDRESS
Martin Siecker, European Economic and Social Committee
14:40 – 14:50 / COLLABORATIVE CONSUMPTION, A SUSTAINABILITY MODEL FOR THE 21ST CENTURY
Bernardo Hernandez Bataller, European Economic and Social Committee
14:50 – 15:00 / WHAT NEXT AFTER THE EESC OPINION PAPER ON COLLABORATIVE OR PARTICIPATORY CONSUMPTION
Antonia Fokkema, DG Health and Consumers, European Commission
15:00 – 16:30 / GOOD PRACTICES ON PARTNERSHIPS IN COLLABORATIVE CONSUMPTION – PANEL DEBATE
Convenor and Short Intro: April Rinne, Sharing Economy and Shareable Cities Expert
- Partnerships with Local Governments (Setting Up a European Network of Shareable Cities) [30 min]
- Viewpoint: Nino Zambara, DG Communication Networks, Content and Technology, European Commission
- Respondent: Carlien Roodink, Amsterdam Economic Board
- Partnerships with Investors (Raising Matching Funds for EU Projects) [30 min]
- Viewpoint: Philippe Vanrie, European Business and Innovation Centres Network
- Respondent: Helen Goulden, Nesta
- Partnerships with Industry Associations (Mapping Initiatives on Shared Mobility and Measuring Impact Against Social, Environmental, Economic Metrics) [30 min]
- Viewpoint: Caroline Cerfontaine, International Association of Public Transport
- Respondent: Dominick Moxon-Tritsch, Uber
16:30 – 17:00 / DISCUSSION WITH THE AUDIENCE
17:00 – 17:10 / SUMMARY AND CLOSING
Marco Torregrossa, European Sharing Economy Coalition
17:10 – 20:00 / SHAREFEST BRUSSELS @ ESPLANADE OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT
Short Intro and Invitation to Attend: Angelo Meuleman, Taxistop
Interpretation from English, French, German and Spanish into English and French
Background
Collaborative consumption is a wide-ranging trend that impacts every sector of society, business, and policies in Europe. Empowered by mobile technologies, peer-to-peer social interactions and costs saving opportunities, a new economic model is emerging around the exchange of goods and services between individuals instead of from business to consumer.
The purpose of this conference is to explore how stakeholders can forge partnerships to lay the necessary policy framework conditions and create an enabling environment for collaborative consumption to be a success for Member States, business, consumers and local communities in the EU.
With a focus on specific collaborative consumption themes, the conference will explore challenges and readily available scalable solutions to mature policies, markets and sectors in Europe for collaborative consumption to become mainstream. The final goal is to explore opportunities to build a partnership in view of a joint EU project funding application.