03/07/2023 (Agence Europe) – On 11 July, negotiators from the European Parliament and the Spanish Presidency of the EU Council will begin the first discussions on the directive on digital platform workers. The European Parliament confirmed its mandate at the beginning of February and the EU Council adopted its own on 12 June (see EUROPE 13199/1). The Spanish government abstained at the time, deeming the text still insufficiently protective of the workers concerned. The triggering of the legal presumption of employee status is likely to be the biggest sticking point, as the European Parliament has removed the criteria required to trigger this mechanism, while the EU Council has decided that at least three out of seven criteria must be met by a platform for its workers to be considered as employees. (SP)