As the European Parliament’s Committee on Employment and Social Affairs (EMPL) holds a hearing on Tuesday 25 October about Uber’s lobbying and the rights of workers on digital platforms, a study commissioned by The Left group in the European Parliament will take account of the lobbying practices of the VTC platform, including its networks within European institutions and meetings with European decision-makers.
“The ‘Uber Files’, published in July 2022, reveal that between 2014 and 2016, Uber executives met 12 times with European Commission officials. However, this figure is very low compared to the meetings secured by Uber in 2020 and 2021”, according to a survey carried out by the Multinationals Observatory.
During the drafting of the directive on the conditions of workers using platforms, which is currently under discussion in the European Parliament and the Council of the EU, platforms have been able to secure – until September 2021 – more than a hundred meetings with the Directorate-General for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion, according to the European Commission itself.
By April 2021, Uber had already met with the Directorate General for Employment, including Commissioner Nicolas Schmit, at least five times in five months, or at least once a month, the study notes. “By the same date, Bolt’s number of encounters was at least 8 within 7 months. By June 2021, Bolt had gained at least 6 appointments in 9 months”.
Regarding the Observatory, however, the European Commission has not given in to their arguments or on studies indicating that a European directive on the topic might lead to the loss of 50% of these jobs. It maintained the principle of the legal presumption of salaried status.
Former Uber lobbyist turned whistleblower Mark MacGann, as well as the current Director of European Policy at Uber, Zuzana Púčiková, will be heard by members of the EMPL committee. However, the two leaders will not be in the same session as was once envisaged, according to Euractiv.
Link to the study (in French): https://aeur.eu/f/3rg (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)