Platform economy database
Database of initiatives and court cases in the EU
Eurofound’s platform economy database provides information on 386 initiatives and court cases that exist or have been implemented in relation to activities in the platform economy. The database was last updated in February 2024 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.
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The database currently contains 386 entries and was last updated in February 2024.
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Hungary
In 2016, the Hungarian government passed a bill on the legal consequences of unauthorised passenger transport by car (Law no. LXXV. of 2016).
The new regulation was implemented as a response to growing discontent on the side of taxi drivers, which launched a petition and protests against Uber denouncing unfair competition and tax avoidance. According to the new law, websites that offer illegal taxi services can be temporarily blocked for up to 365 days by the transport authority. The ban can be imposed in case the organiser or intermediary of the taxi service does not comply with the requirements specified in the related government decree. Additionally, the transport authority can impose a fine and ask the service provider to withdraw the car used for a period between 6 months and 3 years. This rule officially applies only to taxi services, which Uber claims not to be. The bill was passed as an attempt to reduce the grey area in which Uber operates and to support the taxi sector, which contests Uber’s flexible pricing system. As a consequence, Uber terminated its contracts with 400 drivers who had not obtained their passenger transport licenses. The Hungarian authorities proposed to Uber to register as a transport organising service provider, which Uber refused. Subsequently, Uber ceased operating in Hungary altogether. After Uber left Hungary, Taxify and Bolt started their operations and became the most significant platform businesses in the sector in the country to date.
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.
