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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France
On September 19th, 2023, a collective agreement has been signed for the VTC (chauffeur-driven transport car) platform sector laying out rules on transparency, and determining the terms under which platforms may terminate their business relationships with platform workers in the form of account deactivation.
This agreement entails rules on how VTC drivers are to be transparently informed about:
Moreover, if a platform deactivates a workers account, the worker needs to be informed prior to the determination, and the reasons for the account deactivation, such as any incidents attributable to the individual platform worker, must be explained in a detailed manner to provide time and space for the platform worker to respond before the deactivation takes place. The worker needs to have at least 48 hours to respond. The level of detail which needs to be upheld includes information on the specific date and time at which an incident attributable to the platform worker has occurred.
It is also specified that an account can only be deactivated if a driver has not complied with obligations repeatedly, due to repeated breaches, customer fraud, account sharing, or due to invalid documents. Platforms are also obliged to notify platform workers of any breach on their behalf when it occurs. The necessity of human intervention in each deactivation procedure is also reiterated, as the agreement prohibits algorithms from deactivating an account without human intervention.
This new collective agreement also includes rules applying to unjustified account deactivation. Accounts are not to be deactivated if there is no breach of valid legal, contractual or regulatory obligations. If a platform workers account has been deactivated unjustly, platforms are obliged to pay the driver for each day that the account has been deactivated. The amount of pay is to be calculated based on the average daily income of the individual driver of the last 12 weeks of activity.
The background of this collective agreement which results out of social dialogue is the aim to improve the working conditions of platform workers engaged in transportation. It has been organised by the Employment Platforms Social Relations Authority of the French government.
Ordinance No. 2021-484 of 21 April 2021 sets the terms and conditions for the representation of self-employed workers using platforms for their activity and the conditions for exercising this representation. …
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.
