European platform workers become workers – in most cases. On Monday, after difficult negotiations, EU countries agreed on the regulation of, for example, meal delivery services and Uber drivers. The deal marks a crucial hurdle in finalizing potentially influential legislation. Minister Karien van Gennip (Social Affairs, CDA) speaks in a statement of an “important step” that ensures “a better balance between the sustainable development of platform companies and the protection of employees”.
At the end of 2021, the European Commission presented the bill that would end the patchwork of rules for the platform sector in Europe. The number of platform workers has exploded over the past decade, but so has the number of lawsuits about their status. The platform companies themselves see them as self-employed, but in practice they often look much more like employees – albeit without employee rights such as minimum wage, holidays and pension accrual.
With the Commission’s law, a large proportion of platform workers would automatically qualify as employees in the future, with associated rights. That proposal has now also been accepted by EU countries, albeit with a number of adjustments. For example, the list of characteristics that indicate that a platform worker should be regarded as an employee has been expanded. This concerns, for example, the restriction of the freedom to refuse a task, or the unilateral imposition of the rate. Where the Commission wanted to automatically designate the platform as an employer if it meets at least two of five characteristics, the Member States have now extended this to three of seven characteristics.
Additional conditions have also been added, which strengthen the position of the platforms. Among other things, it has been added that if a certain characteristic arises from a collective labor agreement (CAO), it will not be taken into account when checking whether someone qualifies as an employee.
Weakening of bill
It means a weakening of the previous bill, especially at the insistence of France. That country resisted the proposal until the last minute, which, according to Paris, would mean too much interference with the sector and would hinder innovation. The Netherlands, together with Spain in particular, pushed for stricter legislation as part of the plans of the Rutte IV cabinet to reduce the proliferation of self-employed persons without employees and to tackle bogus self-employment. The position of the two camps was far apart, causing an earlier attempt to reach an agreement in December to collapse and the legislation to be stuck for quite some time.
A compromise followed on Monday, which the necessary large majority of member states could eventually agree to. Spain abstained from the vote, as it ultimately felt that the text was not strong enough. The Netherlands agreed, but at the same time expressed disappointment about the relaxation in a statement with Madrid, among others. At the same time, the countries still hope that the final legislation can be stricter. After all, an agreement must first be reached with the European Parliament, where the enthusiasm for strict rules is much greater.