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 15 January 2021, the Lyon Court of Appeal ruled that an Uber driver shall be classified as an independent contractor, adding that the driver who brought the complaint is ‘free to connect [to the app] when he wants, or not to connect, and hence to not work’. The Lyon court backed Uber’s arguments, stating that ‘no contractual provision obliges the driver to work through the Uber platform’, ‘no exclusivity clause is contractually stipulated’, and the driver has no ‘fixed fee’ imposed on him — he is only paid for completed rides. Most recently, a Belgian administrative commission ruled that an Uber driver should be considered an employee, as the ride-hailing app’s employment conditions prevented him from operating as an independent worker. The European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) is calling for an EU action on the labour rights of platform workers, pointing to recent rulings in Belgium, Italy and Spain.
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.
