A hard-fought deal on a draft law designed to improve the conditions of millions of gig workers across the European Union unexpectedly fell apart on Friday morning during a meeting of ambassadors in Brussels.
Under the directive, self-employed workers of digital platforms like Uber and Deliveroo could be re-classified as formal employees, and therefore granted access to basic labour and social rights, if they meet two of five economic indicators.
The change of status could affect up to 5.5 million of the 28 million platform workers currently active across the bloc, according to the European Commission’s estimates.
The provisional agreement on the directive was reached last week between the European Parliament and the Council, which represents member states. Spain, the current holder of the Council’s rotating presidency, was tasked with speaking on behalf of the other 26 countries.
Ambassadors were then supposed to simply ratify the text that emerged from the negotiations. But during the behind-the-scenes meeting on Friday, a majority of countries, described as “solid” by a diplomatic source, came strongly against the outcome of the institutional talks, making it impossible to move it forward.
The legal presumption of an employment relationship (as opposed to self-employment) and the administrative burden were cited as two of the reasons for the opposition.
“We have reached the conclusion that we do not have the necessary qualified majority to reach an agreement on this important file,” said a spokesperson of the Spanish presidency, confirming the news.
“We have therefore decided not to submit the text to formal vote at COREPER (the ambassador’s meeting) today and pass it to the upcoming Belgian Presidency to continue the negotiations, on which we wish them the best of luck.”
The collapse took place the last day before Brussels grinds to a halt for the winter break, which means a new push to amend the text and gather the necessary votes is not likely to happen until mid-January, at the earliest.
If the changes demanded by the rebellious countries are too significant, the Council will be forced to re-open negotiations with the Parliament, further prolonging the process. The co-legislators have only until February to conclude all their negotiations due to the cut-off deadline imposed by the next European elections, scheduled for early June.
The directive was presented by the European Commission in December 2021 and immediately attracted the attention of media outlets and triggered a lobbying push from the private sector.
A report released last year by Corporate Europe Observatory found that companies like Uber, Deliveroo, Bolt and Wolt rapidly increased their spending in Brussels to influence the shape of the law. These firms face the prospect of ballooning costs if the millions of gig workers using their platforms are re-classified as “employees” and given access to labour and social rights such as minimum wage, collective bargaining, working-time limits, health insurance, sick leave, unemployment benefits and old-age pensions.
The directive, as agreed upon by the Council and the Parliament, would also introduce rules on the use of algorithms for human resource management. It would also prevent platforms from processing certain kinds of personal data, including the emotional and psychological state of gig workers, their private conversations and their union activity.
Read the full article here