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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Belgium
The Belgian Platform Rider Association (ASBL or ‘PRA’, short for ‘the association’) is a non-profit association striving to improve mobility and traffic safety in Belgium. To facilitate this, the ASBL aims to increase its members’ access to alternative transportation services via platforms such as Uber. Furthermore, it promotes the usage of non-motorised ways of transportation. A particular objective is to represent passenger-users' interests in the context of LVC (car rental with driver) platforms.
According to its statutes, the association ‘ensures the centralisation and aggregation of demand for chauffeur driven car rental services on behalf of its adhering members and facilitates their access to such services by entering, on behalf of its adhering members, into framework contracts of car rental with a driver (LVC) with various licensed professionals (LVC Companies)’ (see here). This means that drivers must enter a framework rental contract with the ASBL in order to obtain their LVC license, which enables them to use apps such as Uber in Brussels.
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.
