, Columnist
EU Court Will Resolve Uber's Identity Crisis
The ruling could slow down Uber's expansion and make other sharing economy companies more cautious.
Taxi or Tech?
Photographer: GEOFFROY VAN DER HASSELT/AFP/Getty ImagesThis article is for subscribers only.
An important trial started on Tuesday at the Court of Justice of the European Union, the EU's top judicial authority. The judges are trying to determine whether Uber is a taxi company or merely a tech platform that enables customers to find drivers, and the decision, which is not likely to come before April, will serve as a precedent for other sharing-economy companies.
The first day of hearings in the case referred to the ECJ by a Barcelona court last year showed that while Uber sticks to its self-description as an enabling platform, the other parties' stances are diverse and nuanced.