The move will help to normalize the experience of both users and businesses who are frequently caught up in the hodge-podge of current regulations. For instance, Airbnb has recently been blocked from advertising whole apartments in NYC and Berlin, but won a public referendum on its status in San Francisco. Uber has faced violent protests from the taxi lobby in various places and faces trouble over its political maneuvering in Austin. That last city is an interesting case, as the city wanted ride-sharing services to use the same basic safety checks as taxis. But rather than deal directly with its now legendary safety problem, Uber (and rival ride-sharing firm Lyft) chose to pull out of the city.

The report explains that the playbook is currently being developed behind closed doors, with Paris pushing for a first draft to be ready by October. The list of cities includes obvious tourist destinations such as New York and Paris, as well as locations like Athens, Barcelona and Toronto. It should help to ease tensions between companies and lawmakers, which have often been deeply hostile, often unnecessarily so.