Platform economy database
Database of initiatives and court cases in the EU
Eurofound’s platform economy database provides information on 397 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 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 397 entries and was last updated in November 2024.
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Slovenia
Mladi Plus is a Slovenian trade union established in 2011 which is committed to the rights of students, high school students, unemployed youth as well as self-employed authors and entrepreneurs. The aim of Mladi Plus is to connect young people, educate them about their rights when they begin to work, offer them support in finding a job and help them solve the problems they face. The organisation does so by providing counselling services (legal aid and career counselling), providing help with financial problems during studies and spells of (un)employment, and offering courses and workshops on a range of topics such as decent work, equal rights, workers’ rights and the future of work. The workshops are open for the broader public.
By cooperating with other Slovenian trade unions including the taxi drivers’ union, Mladi Plus was able to temporarily prevent Uber from entering the Slovenian market, arguing that the law should not be changed in favour of one company. Food delivery platforms such as Wolt, which recently entered the market, are recruiting young workers and rely special student work agreements and self-employment contracts. Mladi Plus' action against these platforms focuses on the recognition of couriers’ status as employed workers and on the adherence to Slovenian labour law.
The following recent changes to this initiative have been recorded.
On April 19 2023, Mladi Plus presented the newly established Union of Delivery Workers. The main goal of the union is to improve the working conditions of delivery drivers and provide a representative voice in negotiations with management.
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.
