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Bicycle courier in Hesse (symbolic image): An initial agreement from December collapsed

Photo: Sebastian Gollnow / dpa

With a new directive, EU politicians want to strengthen the rights of people who do so-called platform work. This refers to people who work via an online platform, for example as an Uber driver, domestic worker or food delivery person.

Negotiators from the European Parliament and the EU states have now agreed that those affected should be better protected against bogus self-employment, as the EU Parliament announced.

According to the new rules, if there is evidence that employees are being monitored, it will be assumed that the employees are employees and not self-employed. According to Parliament, the burden of proof lies with the platforms. According to the EU states, employees can receive better access to sick pay, unemployment benefits or income support.

"With today's compromise, we are sending a clear signal to Uber and Co.: fair working conditions and data protection apply to everyone," said CDU MEP Dennis Radtke. The fight against false self-employment and distortion of competition is announced.

Soon more than 40 million platform workers in the EU?

Nevertheless, the EU law is still on the brink. According to diplomats, the preliminary agreement creates “major legal uncertainties” for member states. According to the compromise, uniform European regulations should be removed from the law. The implementation would therefore depend on national regulations, which can vary greatly.

The new agreement no longer contains uniform EU-wide criteria. Instead, the text refers to national laws, international agreements and the case law of the European Court of Justice (ECJ), according to the European Parliament's communication. Diplomatic circles said the text was difficult to implement in its current form. There is a risk of a fragmentation of the common market in the EU.

The Belgian Council Presidency wants to present the compromise to representatives of the member states on Friday, and a vote is planned for next week. If there is still no majority, time will be running out to pass the law before the European elections at the beginning of June.

The EU negotiators had already agreed on new rules in December. Shortly before Christmas, the then Spanish EU Council Presidency had to announce that the deal had fallen through. According to the agreement at the time, platform workers should be classified as employees if two of five aspects are met. According to information from the EU states, this includes, for example, if there are salary caps, the performance of employees is monitored or there are restrictions on the choice of working hours or regulations on the appearance of workers.

To date, Uber drivers or bicycle couriers, for example, are often self-employed on paper and therefore do not have social insurance through their employer. More than 30 million people in the EU work for platform companies, and by 2025 the number could rise to more than 40 million. According to the EU Commission, around 5.5 million of them are incorrectly self-employed.

According to Radtke, it is up to French President Emmanuel Macron whether a majority is achieved. But Germany does not currently agree to the plan either. “Discussions in the federal government on the draft guidelines are ongoing,” says the Federal Ministry of Labor.

The driving service provider Uber announced that since there was no final legal text, no official statement could be made yet.

apr/dpa/AFP