Platform economy database
Database of initiatives and court cases in the EU
Eurofound’s platform economy database provides information on 412 initiatives and court cases that exist or have been implemented in relation to activities in the platform economy. The database was last updated in May 2025 and provides metadata for each entry, such as geographical scope, year, type of initiative, actors involved, sector and companies concerned. Initiatives include legal instruments such as legislative changes or court decisions, as well as voluntary interventions undertaken by different stakeholders to address issues around platform work.
Search
The database currently contains 412 entries and was last updated in May 2025.
Tag
Active
France
The county court of Lille (tribunal de grande instance de Lille) requested the Court of Justice of the European Union to provide a preliminary ruling. Advocate General Szpunar’s assessment started by referring to his earlier published opinion on Uber Spain (C-434/15), mentioning in specific how ‘composite services’ should be approached. The Advocate General concluded that European Union Member States, like France, can legally prohibit and criminally punish unlicensed transport activities, such as those facilitated by UberPop, without needing to inform the European Commission beforehand about the relevant draft law.
The case arose from criminal proceedings in France against Uber France. The company was accused of organising a system connecting customers with non-professional drivers for paid transport using the UberPop service, which is illegal under French transport law as the drivers lack necessary authorisations.
Uber France argued that the French law used against it was a "technical regulation" directly concerning an "information society service" (the app connecting drivers and users). According to EU Directive 98/34, such draft regulations must be notified to the Commission before becoming law. Since France did not notify the Commission, Uber contended the law could not be enforced against it. A French court referred the question to the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU).
AG Szpunar gave two main reasons for his opinion that prior notification was unnecessary:
He reiterated his view from the Uber Spain case that services like UberPop fall within the field of transport, not information society services. Therefore, the directive requiring notification does not apply. Alternatively, even if UberPop were considered an information society service, the French law in question would not qualify as a 'technical regulation' under the directive. This is because the law's specific aim is to regulate the transport activity itself (ensuring drivers are licensed), not the electronic intermediation service (connecting drivers and passengers). It only affects the information society service incidentally, not in a targeted way that would trigger the notification requirement. The AG cautioned that classifying any national law punishing intermediation in illegal activities (often done electronically) as a technical regulation would unduly expand the notification obligation beyond its purpose of ensuring internal market compatibility.
Opinion of Advocate General Szpunar
The platform economy is one of those moving targets, which, despite receiving increasing media and policy attention, has proven difficult to regulate. Given the heterogeneity of employment relationships, business models, types of platform work and cross-border issues, this is not surprising.
Technological change is accelerating as the capacity of electronic devices to digitally store, process and communicate information expands. Digitalisation is transforming the EU economy and labour markets: nearly one-third of EU workplaces are categorised as highly digitalised. What are the implications of the digital revolution for employment and work?
The rapid rise of the platform economy has led to a marked transformation of European labour markets, and existing regulatory frameworks and voluntary initiatives have yet to catch up. While platform work offers opportunities for workers and employers and potentially contributes to innovation, economic growth and competitiveness in the EU, it has been criticised from the beginning because of the poor employment and working conditions often experienced by workers.
While 2020 may come to be seen as the year platform work gathered pace and started to go mainstream – thanks in large part to COVID-19 containment measures sparking an increase in food and grocery delivery – 2021 could be the year that regulation of platform work is set in motion.
