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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Greece
In September 2021, E-Food, which is the largest food delivery platform in Greece and which belongs to Delivery Hero, announced that the employment contracts of its riders would not be renewed but that riders would begin to work on a freelance basis. In response, riders organised a four-hour strike and a protest with 1000-1500 riders taking part. Additionally, the riders launched a campaign on Twitter to boycott the app, which caused thousands of customers to delete the app, and the company’s rating on Google fell from 4.5 stars to one. The protest actions were supported by the Attica Food and Tourism Trade Union, the Assembly of Base Workers of Bicycle Drivers and the Panhellenic Federation of Food and Tourism Workers (POETT). As a result, the platform reverted its decision and offered employment contracts of unlimited duration to its riders one week after the original announcement.
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.
