Platform economy database
Database of initiatives and court cases in the EU
Eurofound’s platform economy database provides information on 403 initiatives and court cases that exist or have been implemented in relation to activities in the platform economy. The database was last updated in December 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 403 entries and was last updated in December 2024.
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Germany
In 2017, Foodora riders, supported by the German Food, Beverages and Catering Union (Gewerkschaft Nahrung-Genuss-Gaststätten, NGG) elected a works council in Cologne. On June 1 2018, Foodora riders founded a second works council in Hamburg. Furthermore, the riders have fought Foodora’s parent company, Delivery Hero, for the right to instate a company-wide works council across all locations in Germany. A court in Berlin has ordered Delivery Hero to install employees on its advisory board, as German law mandates that companies employing 2,000 people and over must have equal numbers of shareholders and employees on their supervisory board. However, it appears that Delivery Hero may still avoid this rule by converting its legal business form to an SE (Societas Europaea) and merging with its Dutch branch. See further information here.
In 2018, Foodora was taken over by the Dutch company Just Eat, which then merged it with its German branch Lieferando. In April 2020, the former representatives of the works council Foodora established a works council Lieferando in Cologne. The elections took place after the group had to overcome difficulties posed by Covid-19 restrictions to hold assemblies and by the management, which refused the publication of a register of voters.
In Frankfurt, the works council at Lieferando has been operational since 2018. It was founded when the riders were still working for Foodora and was maintained following the fusion of the companies.
Attempts to form a works council in Münster have been made since 2017 and have not been successful so far. Under Foodora as well as under Lieferando, the management argues that the formation of a council would require a physical location of assembly. Therefore, as of October 2021, no works council is operational in Münster.
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.
