With a shortage of housing in many European cities, governments from Spain to Germany are cracking down on illegal short-term vacation rentals on platforms like Airbnb. But will it work?
Within the framework of an "action plan" endowed with €700,000 ($767,000), the number of inspectors hunting out illegal flats has increased — and they will not avoid resorting to trickery to catch out law-breakers.
The European Commission has appointed Michiel Scheffer as president of the European Innovation Council (EIC) board, as the EU scale-up fund continues to experience delays in getting its funding instruments fully operational. He will replace Mark Ferguson, who has been acting as interim chair of the board since November 2021, while the EIC worked on reducing the backlog of start-ups waiting for grants and equity funding to reach their bank accounts.