Platform economy database
Database of initiatives and court cases in the EU
Eurofound’s platform economy database provides information on 415 initiatives and court cases that exist or have been implemented in relation to activities in the platform economy. The database was last updated in July 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 415 entries and was last updated in July 2025.
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Germany
On 23 December 2016, the Regional Court of Hamburg (Landgericht Hamburg) delivered a significant ruling in a case involving the German Taxi and Rental Car Association (BZP) and the taxi-hailing app MyTaxi, now known as FREE NOW, which was owned by Daimler/BMW at the time. The BZP aimed to halt MyTaxi's promotional activities that offered customers substantial discounts when booking and paying through the app, arguing that these promotions breached the fixed-price mandate under the German Passenger Transport Act (PBefG) and resulted in unfair competition.
The court dismissed the BZP's claims, permitting MyTaxi's discount promotions. The court's justification was that MyTaxi's actions did not contravene the PBefG's fixed-price rules because the full regulated fare was paid to the taxi companies providing the rides. MyTaxi absorbed the discount cost as a marketing expense, thereby ensuring the taxi operators received the correct fare, aligning with the fixed-price requirement of the PBefG.
Previously, a Stuttgart taxi association had filed a temporary injunction against MyTaxi's discount and the Regional Court of Stuttgart had ruled on 16 May 2015 (ref. 44 O 23/15) that the discount/refund campaign was anti-competitive. MyTaxi's subsequent appeal to the district court of Hamburg ruled in favour of MyTaxi.
Ruling of 23.12.2016, Az.: 315 O 423/15
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.
