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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France
On the 20th of April 2023, the National Federation of Autoentrepreneurs and Microentrepreneurs in France (FNAE), the Independent Union, and the Association of Independent Platforms (API) have signed a collective agreement determining the terms under which platforms may terminate their business relationships with platform workers in the form of account deactivation.
Accordingly, a platform can only deactivate a workers account if procedures prior to the deactivation have been implemented by the platform. Moreover, if a platform deactivates a workers account, the worker needs to be informed prior to the determination, and the reasons for the account deactivation, such as any incidents attributable to the individual platform worker, must be explained in a more transparent way than before. The necessity of human intervention in each deactivation procedure is also reiterated, as the agreement prohibits algorithms from deactivating an account without human intervention.
The agreement obliges platforms to develop a communication system between them and the platform workers to create the possibility of reporting difficulties or an incident during a delivery. Platforms must also put tools in place to ensure that workers are not penalised for false customer declarations, which has previously happened if customers marked an order as not having been delivered to avoid payment. Lastly, a platform worker needs to be given the opportunity to contest the decision to deactivate their account and reasons provided for this decision in a timely manner. In addition, an account cannot be deactivated without notice for administrative reasons, such as a document expiring, any longer.
The background of this collective agreement is the goal to improve the working conditions of platform workers engaged in deliveries. It has been organised by the Employment Platforms Social Relations Authority of the French government. Through this social dialogue, the FNAE, which represents over 80,000 microentrepreneurs in France and is the first union representing these workers, is brought to the negotiation table with the API, which is an organisation with platforms such as Uber Eats, Deliveroo, and Stuart as members.
Ordinance No. 2021-484 of 21 April 2021 sets the terms and conditions for the representation of self-employed workers using platforms for their activity and the conditions for exercising this representation. …
On the 20th of April 2023, the National Federation of Autoentrepreneurs and Microentrepreneurs in France (FNAE) and the Association of Independent Platforms (API) have signed a collective agreement determining an …
On the 20th of April 2023, the National Federation of Autoentrepreneurs and Microentrepreneurs in France (FNAE) and the Association of Independent Platforms (API) have signed a method agreement defining a …
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.
