The European law intended to improve their legal protection seemed to have failed last month due to opposition from some countries. A major sticking point was that the law would establish that such service providers are employees of those companies.
As a result, they would also be entitled to vacation days and sick leave. Especially liberal politicians from France and Germany did not want to impose too many restrictions on businesses.
Now Estonia and Greece have changed their stance because it has been included that each EU country may determine the employee criterion themselves. Employees who believe they are not self-employed but are employees will soon be able to legally challenge this. The platform must then prove that the individual is not an employee. The Dutch trade union FNV calls this 'a weakened variant.'
Labour Party (PvdA) MEP Jongerius responded with relief and is “extremely happy” that an agreement has finally been reached. Jongerius has been deeply involved in the dossier for years. GroenLinks MEP Kim van Sparrentak is also relieved. She called this agreement “a very important step in building a strong social Europe.”
According to Van Sparrentak, it is positive that in the event of a dispute over labor rights, the platform must prove that there is no employment relationship. Thus, the burden of proof is reversed.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen calls it a win-win situation. “Our digital economy is evolving, and workers’ rights must evolve as well,” she wrote on X.
The new law still needs to be approved by the European Parliament. It is unclear whether the Parliament will vote on the new law soon. Due to the European elections in June, the Parliament will be in election recess starting April.