Free movement of some of the most popular services facilitated by the sharing economy is impeded by the incompatibility of EU single market rules with the regulations of most member states. Uber, the ride-sharing taxi service is an exemplary case, being banned in many EU countries but not in the UK and Ireland and operating 'under the radar' in some others. The object of my research is firstly to expose the sources of division in this case and secondly the processes which may be employed by the EU institutions to reconcile member states preferences with the principle of free movement. Consequently, the first step with which this paper is concerned is a review of the literature relating to key concepts that give rise to dissonance. These may be summed as what is considered the good for society to which an innovation is put, varying practices of contemporary capitalism and the implications for EU integration. The next step will be to find practical ways of collecting data from which a coherent methodology will emerge.
