Platform economy database
Database of initiatives and court cases in the EU
Eurofound’s platform economy database provides information on 443 initiatives and court cases that exist or have been implemented in relation to activities in the platform economy. The database was last updated in November 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.
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The database currently contains 443 entries and was last updated in November 2025.
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Germany
On 23 October 2025, employees of the food delivery service Lieferando went on strike in Berlin, Germany. The strike, called by the NGG union (Food, Beverages and Catering Union), was organised to demand a collective agreement that guarantees secure jobs and incomes. The striking workers received a message of support from Germany's Federal Minister of Labour, Bärbel Bas, who spoke out against poor working conditions resulting from outsourced jobs.
Key points * The strike was triggered by Lieferando's announcement that it plans to outsource 2,000 of its 9,000 jobs in Germany to third-party service providers.
The NGG union (represented by Veit Groß) states that these subcontractors typically lack social standards and that their workers, often migrants, operate in a "lawless space".
The NGG is demanding that the German government stop the "shadow fleets" of subcontractors and quickly implement the European Platform Directive into national law.
This strike highlights a direct conflict between Lieferando's strategy of outsourcing and its workers' demands for direct, secure employment under a collective agreement. The NGG union is applying pressure on both the company and the German government to enact stronger regulations for the platform delivery industry.
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.
