Platform economy database
Database of initiatives and court cases in the EU
Eurofound’s platform economy database provides information on 411 initiatives and court cases that exist or have been implemented in relation to activities in the platform economy. The database was last updated in March 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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Italy
On 26 May 2017, the Court of Rome overturned its earlier decision to ban UberBlack nationwide. This followed a decision of Parliament with the Lanzillotta amendment, to suspend provisions in national law governing the taxi and rental sector with drivers.
Earlier in 2017, the Court of Rome had issued an order intending to block the Uber Black service throughout Italy due to claims of unfair competition from taxi associations. The Italian Parliament intervened bypassing the "Lanzillotta amendment" as part of a decree (known as "decreto milleproroghe"). This amendment suspended the application of certain restrictive provisions of the law governing non-scheduled public transport (like taxis and rentals with drivers - NCC) until the end of 2017. Following Parliament's action, the Court of Rome, on May 26, 2017, accepted Uber's appeal ("reclamo") and revoked its previous order. The court's decision explicitly implemented the parliamentary suspension mandated by the Lanzillotta amendment.
To be noted that the court's decision to lift the ban wasn't a reassessment of Uber's legality at that moment, but rather an act of compliance with Parliament. Since the Lanzillotta amendment had temporarily paused enforcement of the relevant taxi and rental-with-driver regulations, the court adjusted its ruling accordingly
Ruling 26/5/2017 n. 25857/2017 R.G
On 7 April 2017, the Court of Rome the court ordered a halt to Uber's services across Italy, specifically including Uber Black and potentially other services like Lux, Suv, Van, …
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.
