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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France
On July 9, 2025, France's highest court, the Cour de Cassation, rejected an appeal by an Uber driver who sought to have his relationship with the platform reclassified as a contract of employment. The court upheld a previous ruling from the Paris Court of Appeal, 11 Jan 2024, RG 23/02704, confirming the driver's status as a self-employed contractor. The Cour de cassation recalled its established case law: a contract of employment exists when work is performed under subordination, defined by the employer’s authority to give orders, control execution, and impose sanctions. While integration into an organised service may indicate subordination, this is not sufficient on its own. The key reasons for this conclusion were:
Staffing: Drivers are not bound by any exclusivity clause and are free to work for competing platforms or find their own private clients.
Directing/leading: Revised fare-setting and reconnection mechanisms reduced algorithmic control over task execution.
Controlling: Sanctions (e.g., account deactivated) were restructured to allow immediate reconnection, diminishing enforcement of platform standards.
This ruling affirms Uber's updated business model. However, the situation may change in the future, as France must implement the EU Platform Work Directive by December 2026. This directive introduces a presumption of employment status where platform control is evident, which could challenge the court's current interpretation.
The Paris Court of Appeal upheld the judgement of the Paris Employment Tribunal (Conseil de Prud'hommes de Paris) on 6 December 2022 which had declared itself without jurisdiction to rule …
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.
