Move EU

The European Commission has acknowledged the potential of ride-hailing in a series of strategic documents issued in the past and current mandate.

In 2020, the Sustainable and Smart Mobility Strategy highlighted the shift towards shared and collaborative mobility services, facilitated by intermediary platforms, reducing the number of vehicles in daily traffic. The 2021 New Urban Mobility Framework built on this, recognizing ride-hailing as a game-changer. In 2022, a dedicated European Commission Notice acknowledged ride-hailing actors as enablers to decarbonize transport, identifying obstacles in local rules and underscoring their role in sustainable passenger transport-on-demand.

The 2025 Single Market Strategy announced that the European Commission will envisage actions for applying EU single market rules and principles to the taxi and private-hired vehicles sector. The 2030 Consumer Agenda reiterated this ambition.

While the publication of the European Commission Notice was a positive first step, the ride-hailing sector is still confronted with many obstacles in Member States and on local level.

For this reason, Move EU, the ride-hailing association, is providing regular updates to point out cases in which regulation does not keep pace with innovation or even hampers the deployment of ride-hailing services.

Move EU is convinced that a regulatory follow-up from the European Commission is necessary to remove the various regulatory obstacles and discrepancies that ride-hailing actors continue to face. By doing so, the Commission can seize the opportunities presented by ride-hailing and foster sustainable and competitive transportation systems. While Move EU understands that transportation systems are subject to national and local rules, the reality is that the constant mobility of European citizens throughout the EU and cross-border de facto nature of many ride-hailing platforms have transformed this into a European-wide challenge that requires a coordinated and harmonized approach.

Belgium
The 2022 Taxi Reform in the Brussels-Capital Region replaced an outdated framework and established a unified legal regime for taxis and app-booked services. While the reform modernised certain aspects of the sector, it also introduced constraints that continue to limit market access and service availability.

Licence caps
The number of vehicle licences is capped, and the ceiling was reached in 2023. Around 2,000 drivers are currently on a waiting list, despite steadily increasing demand driven by population growth, tourism, and a shift away from private car use. Waiting times for passengers have almost doubled, and at peak moments, particularly on Friday evenings, taxis are unavailable in parts of the city, raising safety concerns.

The 2022 law required a review of the framework, including the licence cap, in 2025. This review was widely expected to result in an adjustment reflecting demand and mobility needs. However, no increase has materialised, and the cap remains unchanged, continuing to restrict entry and limit the ability of ride-hailing services to scale.

Price regulation
The Brussels taxi law imposes fixed pricing rules, including regulated prices per kilometre, waiting-time fees, base fares, minimum prices, and a surge cap. These requirements have contributed to higher fares, reducing affordability and access, particularly for young people and underserved communities. Brussels illustrates a broader EU challenge: reforms framed as modernisation that fall short when licence caps and price controls are not demand-responsive or regularly reassessed.

Cyprus
Cyprus continues to operate under a regulatory framework dating back to the 1980s, with no legal recognition of Private Hire Vehicles. All paid passenger transport is restricted to traditional taxis.

Licence caps and supply shortages
Taxi licences are strictly capped, and no new licences have been issued since 2002–2003. Despite population growth and increased tourism, the total number of licences remains at 1,893, with only 1,570 allocated to urban areas. Estimates suggest that Cyprus would require between 3,200 and 5,600 licences by 2030 to reach the EU average.

This artificial scarcity has led to severe transport shortages and the emergence of a shadow market of unlicensed operators. At the same time, licences have become speculative assets, with resale prices reportedly reaching up to €100,000.

Price regulation
Fares are fixed by the Licensing Authority and cannot reflect demand, time of day, or service quality. This rigid structure prevents the use of digital pricing tools and limits efficiency.

Finland
Finland is preparing a regulatory reform that risks reversing the benefits of the 2018 taxi deregulation.

Mandatory equipment
All vehicles, including those operating via apps, would be required to install physical taximeters, despite the availability of transparent digital pricing systems.

Access to the profession
New drivers would need to complete a 21-hour training module, while existing drivers must undertake continuing education to renew licences. Training and exams conducted only in Finnish or Swedish create structural barriers for international drivers.

Administrative tightening
Additional measures include coloured licence plates, expanded public registries, and stronger centralised oversight, signalling a return to a more rigid regulatory model.

France
Ride-hailing and PHV drivers are facing increasing enforcement pressure and local restrictions that create legal uncertainty.

Intensified controls
Police checks based on national VTC rules, particularly prior-booking obligations, have increased and are applied unevenly across the country.

Municipal overreach
Some municipalities have adopted measures beyond their legal competences. In December 2025, the city of Agen introduced a decree restricting VTC operations by time and location, effectively preventing drivers from operating during peak hours in key areas. Legal challenges are expected, as regulation of VTC activity is a national competence.

Germany
PHV services in Germany are subject to a restrictive framework largely shaped at municipal level.

Minimum pricing
Several cities have adopted or are considering minimum pricing for PHVs to protect the taxi sector. These measures eliminate demand-based pricing, increase fares, and reduce service availability.

Return-to-garage rule
PHV drivers must return to their operating base after each trip unless a follow-up booking exists. This leads to inefficient empty mileage, higher emissions, reduced availability, and increased operating costs.

Greece
Greece’s passenger transport market remains highly fragmented, with strong protection of the taxi sector.

Operational barriers
PHVs face strict pre-booking requirements, return-to-garage obligations, minimum pricing, and minimum rental durations. Limited easing measures were introduced on certain islands, but the mainland remains largely closed to effective ride-hailing operations.

Electrification mandate
A requirement for all new taxis in Athens and Thessaloniki to be electric from January 2026 triggered widespread strikes, with drivers citing high costs and insufficient charging infrastructure.

Competition investigations
The Hellenic Competition Commission has launched investigations into radio-taxi groups over alleged anti-competitive practices, including exclusivity clauses.

Italy
Ride-hailing services operate under the NCC framework and face ongoing regulatory instability.

Electronic service log
Decree 226/2024 introduced a mandatory real-time electronic service log and operational delays. The decree was annulled in December 2025 by the Regional Administrative Court of Lazio for exceeding legal mandates and breaching data protection principles.

Constitutional Court rulings
The Constitutional Court struck down key elements of the decree, including the 20-minute pause rule and mandatory use of a state-owned app, citing proportionality and technological neutrality.

Platform regulation
A separate draft decree regulating digital intermediation platforms was challenged by the European Commission under the TRIS procedure for incompatibility with EU law.

Luxembourg
Luxembourg has proposed a major reform of its passenger transport framework to modernise taxi and ride-hailing services.

The draft law would integrate ride-hailing into the legal regime, align rules between taxis and PHVs, progressively abolish licence caps by 2030, and introduce upfront price transparency. Parliamentary adoption is pending.

Poland
All passenger transport services are classified as taxi services. While there is no licence cap, prices are regulated locally, and enforcement remains highly punitive.

Current reform discussions focus on digitalising compliance, clarifying responsibilities across platforms and drivers, and reducing disproportionate sanctions, including mandatory licence withdrawal.

Portugal
Ride-hailing services operate under the TVDE framework, which is increasingly viewed as outdated.

In 2025, Parliament launched a review addressing pricing flexibility, operational requirements, enforcement practices, and administrative burdens. The process was paused due to snap elections and is expected to resume in the first half of 2026.

Spain
Spain remains one of the most restrictive environments for PHVs.

Regional restrictions
In regions such as Catalonia and the Balearic Islands, PHVs face minimum vehicle size requirements, advance booking obligations, and tight licence caps.

Balearic Islands litigation
In December 2025, the Balearic Government announced it would appeal a court ruling requiring the reprocessing of around 600 pending VTC licences.

Barcelona reform proposal
A draft law advanced in late 2025 would designate taxis as a service of general economic interest and effectively exclude VTCs from urban trips, imposing heavy administrative obligations and triggering expected legal challenges.

Sweden
Sweden mandates the use of physical taximeters despite the availability of digital alternatives that ensure transparent pricing and trip tracking. Additional constraints, including licence-checking systems owned by taxi-sector bodies, raise competition concerns and disadvantage PHVs.