Platform economy database
Database of initiatives and court cases in the EU
Eurofound’s platform economy database provides information on 411 initiatives and court cases that exist or have been implemented in relation to activities in the platform economy. The database was last updated in March 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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Finland
In February 2024, the Finnish delivery company Wolt won a landmark court case where its couriers were ruled to be entrepreneurs, not employees.
The administrative court in Hämeenlinna assessed the working relationship between Wolt and found that key factors defining an employee-employer relationship were not present. Specifically, the court noted that couriers were not required to personally perform the work and could delegate tasks, and they were not subject to the company’s management or supervision, as there were no fixed working hours and no obligation to accept work offered.
This decision overturned a previous ruling by the Regional State Administrative Agency of Southern Finland, which had classified the couriers as employees.
In June 2021, the Finnish Workers’ Compensation Center (TVK) issued three rulings on the question of whether the Workers’ Compensation Act applies to food transport work carried out by couriers. …
The Labour Council of the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment stated on 15 October 2020 that the food couriers of Wolt and Foodora, the two biggest employers in the …
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.
