EU states reach deal to back rules on app workers’ conditions

BRUSSELS, Belgium – EU states reached agreement on Monday on controversial rules to cover app workers in the so-called gig economy, after weeks of wrangling over the draft text.

“Better working conditions for those delivering your meal at home! Ministers just approved the compromise text on the Platform Work Directive,” Belgium, which holds the rotating EU presidency, said on X.

When the European Union began work on the text in 2021, the aim was to set bloc-wide rules that supporters hoped would improve conditions for workers in the gig economy by reclassifying some as employed.

READ: Social entrepreneurs fight to make gig work fairer, greener

EU negotiators finalized a deal on the rules in December but some countries, including France, were not happy with the draft agreement.

Workers’ classification

That text said that if a worker met two out of five criteria, the presumption would be that they were an employee, giving them access to benefits like sick pay.

In February, member states agreed on another text but critics said it was watered down.

The compromise text scrapped any formal list of criteria, letting each country decide how to classify workers.

READ: Thriving in the gig economy

But that was still not enough, and so in February, France and Germany, blocked the text with the support of Estonia and Greece.

The issue was then put on the agenda of EU employment ministers meeting in Brussels on Monday, where the majority of member states ended up backing the agreement.

Move EU, a European association of ride-hailing platforms representing companies including Uber and Bolt, expressed its displeasure at the deal.

No harmonized approach

“This text, though an improvement from previous versions, fails to achieve a harmonized approach across the EU, creating even more legal uncertainty for ride-hailing drivers,” said the association’s chair, Aurelien Pozzana.

Uber meanwhile urged EU states to introduce national laws.

“EU lawmakers have voted to maintain the status quo today, with platform worker status continuing to be decided country-to-country and court-to-court,” an Uber spokesperson said in a statement.

“Uber now calls on EU countries to introduce national laws that give platform workers the protections they deserve while maintaining the independence they prefer.”