Webinar on Airbnb, the Digital Service Act and cities´ efforts for affordable housing – Time to empower cities!

IUTs Barbara Steenbergen is invited to contribute to an conference of the Left Group of the European Parliament, together with activists from Inside Airbnb and Corporate Europe Observatory. The conference is interpreted in EN/FR/DE.

Join the webinar on 9 December 2020 between 18:00 – 20:00 CET.

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 Service Act (DSA). In order to find out how the two can work together, The Left in the European Parliament/GUE/NGL has commissioned a study on existing AIRBNB’s deals with cities, drafted by Murray Cox, community activist behind insideairbnb.com, and Kenneth Haar from Corporate Europe Observatory to draft this study for us. 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

Register and join via Zoom https://zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_WzoaO-0QR1-yCgV1nxJBqw