While Italy punted, at least for a while, the EU came down hard on Uber this week. Their ruling is not binding on all member countries, but they rejected Uber's argument that it is not a taxi company. Uber's position has been that it is just a website that connects independent car owners who want to offer a ride to someone for a price. It considers itself as a third party that cannot be held accountable for country's rules concerning insurance, stringency of drivers' background checks, knowledge of how to get around the city. The EU disagreed, and said that they are not a website. They are a taxi company. The largest taxi company in the world. As such, the EU magistrate ruled that all member companies should require them to obey all of the rules that govern public transportation. Many cities, including Rome, have already done this, as discussed upthread. However, this EU-wide decision is a potential game-changer, if adopted by member countries. Uber's response was that, "Europe is just behind the times," and they will make some changes to accommodate that.