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
The Court of Appeal in Germany ruled on 11 December 2015 that the business model of Uber Black violated competition law (Ruling 11.12.2015, (5 U 31/15). The judgement was taken to the Federal Supreme Court. Furthermore, on 18 May 2017 (ref. I ZR 3/16), the Federal Court of Justice stayed the proceedings and referred them to the European Court of Justice for a decision.
The facts: A Berlin taxi operator sued Uber B.V. (operating Uber Black). The claimant argued that Uber Black's business model constituted unfair competition because it violated the German Passenger Transport Act (Personenbeförderungsgesetz - PBefG) – specifically, the rule requiring rental car bookings to be received at the operator's place of business. The Berlin Court of Appeal (Kammergericht) dismissed Uber's appeal against the lower court's decision. It upheld the finding that the Uber Black service, as operated, was unlawful. (Note: An appeal to the Federal Court of Justice was permitted).
Motivation for Ruling: The court found that Uber Black directly connected passengers with rental car drivers via its app, bypassing the legal requirement (§49 PBefG) for such bookings to be received first at the licensed rental car company's registered office. This violation of transport regulations gave Uber an unfair competitive advantage over compliant taxi services.
On the 18 May 2017 the Federal Court of Justice (Bundesgerichtshof - BGH) issued an order ('Beschluss') confirming the appeal proceedings and referring questions to the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) for a preliminary ruling. The BGH needed clarification from the CJEU on a crucial point of EU law: Should Uber's service be classified as a "transport service" under the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU Art. 58)? This was vital because transport services are largely exempt from the EU's general "freedom to provide services" (TFEU Art. 56), which Uber might have invoked. Determining the correct classification under EU law was necessary for the BGH to decide the appeal correctly. This referral was later withdrawn by the BGH after the CJEU ruled on a similar Spanish case involving Uber.
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.
