The draft directive on improving working conditions on digital platforms, presented by the European Commission on Thursday 9 December, has been well received by MEPs and European trade unions, but less so by employers.
“This proposal represents an opportunity to address the future of work and to adapt the law to the new realities of the world of work”, said Sylvie Brunet (Renew Europe, France), rapporteur on the European Parliament resolution calling for such a directive (see EUROPE 12763/28).
When contacted by EUROPE, she noted that the proposal went “quite far on the presumption of an employment relationship”. However, she needed to do further analysis to understand the “concrete” implementation of the two out of five criteria for determining a platform’s relationship with its worker (see EUROPE 12850/14).
Most shadow rapporteurs welcomed the overall ambition of the proposal: Dennis Radtke (EPP, Germany) welcomed the fact that the Commission had taken up Parliament’s main demands, Elisabetta Gualmini (S&D, Italy) called the presentation a “revolution”, Kim van Sparrentak (Greens/EFA) appreciated the willingness to act on management algorithms, Leïla Chaibi (The Left, France) spoke of an “exciting victory for workers in the uberised world” and of a victory of workers over lobbies.
It was not yet clear whether Ms Brunet would get the legislative dossier back. “A priori, according to parliamentary tradition, I should take over the legislative file as rapporteur”, she told EUROPE.
Employers unhappy, unions satisfied
As expected (see EUROPE 12793/24), reactions are less positive from the employers’ side. BusinessEurope has strongly criticised the introduction of a rebuttable presumption of employment. “This does not reflect reality, as many platform workers choose to work as self-employed”, the European employers’ association said. One of the concerns is that this will work against the services provided. The association called for cooperation between social partners and between the European Commission and the Member States.
SMEunited, an association representing SMEs and the craft industry, also feels that the introduction of the presumption could hinder the development of a true self-employed status. The association believes that a recommendation would have been better.
In contrast, the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) welcomed the legislative proposal and its general ambition, although it regrets that the criteria proposed by the institution are difficult to implement. “In practice, criteria might legitimise subordination of self-employed workers and this would defeat the purpose of the Directive. The upcoming negotiations should resolve this problem”, the statement said. (Original version in French by Pascal Hansens)