The European Commission is developing a new legislative framework that will allow national, regional, and municipal authorities to restrict short-term housing rentals in areas facing particularly sharp price increases and a shortage of apartments for permanent residents.
The initiative will be part of the future European Affordable Housing Act, which the European Commission plans to present in 2026. The document is intended to help authorities identify areas under housing pressure based on publicly available statistical data and take measures commensurate with the scale of the problem.
This does not mean a blanket ban on Airbnb, Booking.com, or other services across the entire European Union. The European Commission intends to create a legal framework within which cities and regions can independently regulate short-term rentals without violating the rules of the single European market.
In particular, municipalities should be given greater legal certainty when imposing restrictions in areas where tourist rentals reduce the housing supply for local residents. Possible measures will be determined taking into account the local situation, the interests of the tourism sector, and the principle of proportionality.
During the consultations, representatives of cities and regions called on the European Commission to develop a list of tools compatible with EU legislation. They also emphasized the need to take into account the differences between major tourist centers, small towns, and rural areas.
The drafting of the Affordable Housing Act is proceeding in parallel with the implementation of previously approved EU rules on the collection of information regarding short-term rentals. EU Regulation No. 2024/1028 will take effect on May 20, 2026. It provides for the creation of digital registration systems for landlords and the exchange of data between platforms and government agencies.
In countries that implement such registration, property owners must obtain a unique property number and include it in their listings. Online platforms are required to display and verify these numbers, conduct random checks, and remove listings at the request of authorities if they do not comply with established rules.
Platforms must also submit monthly data on the number of guests and booked nights via a single national digital gateway. This will allow municipalities to assess the actual scale of short-term rentals and make data-driven decisions.
However, the current regulation primarily governs registration and the exchange of information. It does not, in and of itself, establish EU-wide limits on the number of apartments available for rent or the permitted number of nights.
According to the European Commission, short-term rentals already account for about a quarter of all tourist accommodation supply in the EU.
In 2025, 951.6 million guest nights were booked through Airbnb, Booking.com, Expedia, and other major online platforms. Compared to 2024, this figure increased by 11.4%.
The European Commission acknowledges that this market generates income for property owners, expands options for tourists, and supports local businesses. At the same time, the high concentration of short-term rentals in historic centers and popular resorts may reduce the supply of apartments for permanent residence and contribute to rising prices.
According to the European Affordable Housing Plan, the number of short-term rental bookings through the largest platforms increased by more than 90% between 2018 and 2024. Professional operators account for more than 45% of listings, even though they represent a minority of property owners.
Once the new legislation is adopted, the rules will depend not only on the country but also on the situation in a specific city or district. In tourist destinations with a housing shortage, local authorities will potentially be able to impose stricter requirements regarding registration, licensing, and rental duration. In regions where there is a shortage of tourist accommodations and short-term rentals support the local economy, restrictions may be significantly fewer.
Insurance Company “KD Life” (KD Life, Kyiv) collected UAH 33.2 million in net premiums from January through June 2026, a 40.4% increase compared to the same period in 2025, according to the insurer’s interim data posted on the information disclosure system of the National Securities and Stock Market Commission (NSSMC).
The company tripled its gross profit compared to the same period a year ago—to 12.9 million UAH—and increased its sales expenses to 172,000 UAH from 43,000 UAH.
Operating profit amounted to 222 million UAH, compared to 4.407 million UAH for the same period a year ago; profit before taxes increased 20.5-fold, reaching 28.148 million UAH; and net profit totaled 22.383 million UAH, compared to 84,000 UAH in January–June 2025.
KD Life is a Ukrainian company founded in 2007 by the KD Group holding company.
The KD Group holding company is a leader in the Eastern European financial market, with nearly 130 years of experience in life and risk insurance, financial management, and investment funds.
Ukraine is not included in the ranking, as the study covers EU countries and four non-EU countries—Serbia, the United Kingdom, Norway, and Switzerland.
In Ukraine, 79,516 thousand marriages were registered from January through June 2026, which is 16% more than during the same period last year, OpenDataBot reported on July 31, citing data from the Ministry of Justice.
On average, about 13,300 couples got married each month in Ukraine during the first half of the year. At the same time, the total number of marriages for the year may turn out to be significantly higher, as Ukrainians traditionally tend to register their marriages more often in the second half of the year. In 2025, the difference between the two halves of the year was 41%.
The most popular date in the first half of the year was June 26, 2026. On the palindromic date of 06/26/2026, 2,528 thousand couples registered their marriages. Another 1,248 thousand couples got married on February 14, Valentine’s Day.
The increase in the total number of marriages was largely driven by Kyiv, Dnipropetrovsk, and Lviv regions. These three regions accounted for more than half of all marriages registered in the country.
One of the main factors was the expansion of remote civil registration: four out of ten marriages in the first half of the year were registered online.
Fruits, vegetables, and olive oil accounted for 45.5% of the EU’s organic imports. Another 39.3% came from grains, oilseeds, and other crop products.
European imports of organic oilseeds and protein crops grew particularly rapidly—by 20.5%—as did imports of coffee, tea, cocoa, and spices—by 25.5%—and vegetables—by 25.9%. Shipments of organic grains increased by 13.9%.
The Netherlands remained the largest European import hub, accounting for about 36% of organic imports. It was followed by Germany, Italy, Belgium, and France.
At the same time, a significant portion of the products cleared through the Netherlands or Belgium is subsequently redistributed to other EU countries.
Kyiv, Dnipropetrovsk, and Lviv regions accounted for more than half of all marriages registered in Ukraine in the first half of 2026. In total, 79,516 marriages were registered nationwide over the six-month period, OpenDataBot reported on July 31, citing data from the Ministry of Justice.
The highest number of marriages was registered in Kyiv—19,928, or approximately one in four of the total. Compared to the same period last year, the capital’s figure rose by 38%.
In the Dnipropetrovsk region, 15,545 thousand couples got married. This is 2.7 times more than in the first half of 2025. Lviv Oblast ranked third with 8,909 thousand marriages, marking a 1.9-fold increase.
In fact, these three regions accounted for about 56% of all marriages registered in the country.
One possible explanation for this concentration may be the operation of the Digital Civil Registry Offices in Kyiv, Dnipro, and Lviv. During the first half of the year, 30,488 thousand couples got married remotely.
In other regions, the number of marriages mostly decreased. This means that official regional statistics reflect not only the place of residence of the newlyweds but also the concentration of the digital infrastructure for civil registration.
In 2025, Ukraine remained the fifth-largest supplier of organic products to the EU, although its export volume decreased by 14.3%—from 203,897 thousand to 174,701 thousand metric tons. Ukraine’s share of the EU’s total organic imports was 5.9%.
The largest suppliers were Ecuador with 434,970 thousand metric tons, China with 314,404 thousand metric tons, Peru with 220,333 thousand metric tons, and the Dominican Republic with 177,642 thousand metric tons. Ukraine ranked behind them.
Ukraine retained its top position in organic grain exports. In 2025, the EU imported 85,859 thousand metric tons of such products from Ukraine, accounting for 27.7% of European imports in this category.
In terms of oilseeds and protein crops, Ukraine ranked third behind China and Togo, supplying 48,828 thousand metric tons. Exports of organic fruits and nuts totaled 20,250 thousand metric tons, placing Ukraine in ninth place.
