Ride-hailing app Uber is providing transportation services, an adviser to the top European Union court said on Thursday, dealing a blow to the U.S. start-up which has argued it is merely a digital enabler.
“The Uber electronic platform, whilst innovative, falls within the field of transport: Uber can thus be required to obtain the necessary licenses and authorizations under national law,” the Court of Justice of the European Union (ECJ) said in a statement.
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The opinion is non-binding but judges at the court tend to follow it in most cases.
