Negotiators from the European Parliament and the EU Council met on the evening of Wednesday 8 November to discuss the platform workers directive and the principle of legal presumption of salaried status.
The Spanish Presidency of the EU Council was represented this time at ministerial level, which is said to have helped energise the discussions.
Some progress has been made on certain chapters, in particular with agreement on certain provisions of Article 1 (scope and legal basis) or on the right of workers to the portability of their data. The EU Council has also accepted the principle of an impact assessment being carried out by the platform on workers’ data before any automated system or change to such a system is introduced.
Discussions have also made some progress on algorithmic management, but no solution has yet been found on legal presumption, a point on which the positions of the European Parliament and the EU Council remain far apart.
The EU Council has reportedly agreed on how to initiate a presumption of salaried status procedure, but maintains the difference between initiating and activating this procedure.
The EU Council also explained that it agreed that the competent administrative or judicial authority should communicate the triggering of the legal presumption to the digital work platform and to the person carrying out the work on the platform and inform them of the possibility of reversing the legal presumption. However, for some, this is a logical practice and therefore does not represent a real gesture on the part of the EU Council.
Parliament also reiterated its priorities, such as the abolition of exemptions permitted in certain circumstances and for certain procedures, a detailed mechanism for reversing the burden of proof, and the establishment of an automatic reclassification of the worker when the presumption is not rebutted.
These are points on which the Presidency has expressed no desire to budge, as its mandate leaves it almost no room for manoeuvre. It is also said to have asked Parliament to come back to the EU Council with a new written proposal on these priority points.
According to another source, the EU Council is mainly asking Parliament to tell it how it can adapt and end up accepting the EU Council’s position, which will not change.
The next trilogue will take place on 28 November.
Taxi industry
Taxi industry representatives are closely monitoring the negotiations and, on Thursday 9 November, reiterated the importance of incorporating two provisions to preserve the taxi industry: “Firstly, taxi dispatch services should be recognised as separate entities. This provision clearly differentiates taxi dispatch services, as regulated by national laws and practices, from digital work platforms for car sharing. Failure to make this distinction could lead to unfair competition”.
They also want to ensure that compliance with national legislation “is not considered as a control of the performance of the work”, writes Taxi4Mobility. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)