We are going to end the year by looking ahead to what 2026 may bring for platform workers in Europe, carefully balancing pessimism of the intellect with optimism of the will.
Over the last six weeks we have been speaking to trade-unionists across the continent about what is happening with the transposition of the EU Platform Work Directive in their country. We have found a highly varied picture, with some countries charging forward on transposition while others are not out of the starting blocks.
There is good news to report. In Germany, serious consideration is being given to prohibiting sub-contracting in the food delivery industry, following the example of the meat industry. In Spain, an ambitious transposition is being prepared which would extend the algorithmic management rights in the Platform Work Directive to all workers. In Malta, a legal presumption of employment is already in place and the association for fleet partners in the food delivery industry has agreed in principle to collective bargaining for all couriers: the transposition of the Directive in this context will be about providing legislative protection to changes already happening on-the-ground.
Elsewhere, the news is more concerning. We have seen employer proposals for the legal presumption of employment in Poland which would set such a high bar for platform workers to clear to trigger the presumption that it would effectively be a legal presumption of self-employment. To be clear, these proposals have not been endorsed by the government but the fact they are being seriously deliberated is worrying in and of itself. We have heard concerns from Poland and elsewhere about whether the transposition will actually be accomplished by 2 December 2026, as missing the deadline for transposing EU directives has become increasingly normalised.
The European Commission will publish its guidelines on the transposition in early January, and this should precipitate an acceleration in the pace of developments at national level. We are aware of about half a dozen countries which are waiting for the European Commission guidelines before they start their transposition process. Trade unions have had an influence over the guidelines through the expert working group that has been meeting regularly for the past six months and we expect the guidelines to help, not hinder, a worker-friendly transposition of the Directive.
However, we should also be aware of the broader context in which this Directive exists within. The European Commission is pursuing a so-called 'simplification' agenda, which is not-so-subtle code for deregulation. This includes the 'digital omnibus package', where a number of laws relating to digital platforms including GDPR and the Data Act are being changed, including in ways which weaken workers' rights.
European Trade Union Institute AI researcher Aida Ponce Del Castillo writes that the reforms to GDPR and the AI Act will simultaneously make it easier for companies to exploit workers' data for the purposes of AI development while making it harder for workers to access their own data by giving employers more power to refuse requests.
"Ultimately, the Digital Omnibus is not a simple technical clean-up but a deregulatory exercise that relaxes regulatory constraints for incumbent providers and shifts the costs of its competitiveness agenda onto workers and society," Ponce Del Castillo concludes.
While the Platform Work Directive is not included within this digital deregulation agenda (yet), it raises question marks about how willing the European Commission and member-states are going to be to ensure an ambitious, comprehensive transposition of PWD. The Commission is supposed to review the implementation of the Directive in 2029, but no one should be holding their breath for that.
(Interestingly, the European Parliament voted on Wednesday [17 December] in favour of a directive on algorithmic management protections for all workers, showing there is still an appetite among MEPs at least to strengthen workers' digital rights, though it's not clear whether the Commission will decide to act on the wishes of the Parliament and pursue a directive.)
It will be down to the platform workers' movement to push their respective governments to implement a worker-friendly transposition of the Directive. We know that the platform lobby is already highly active in seeking to shape the transposition in their favour, so there will be a battle of interpretation in all the capitals of Europe over what the Directive really obligates governments to deliver.
GEP will be following what happens closely, and you can help us by sending information on what's going on where you are. We'll be back early in the new year, for what will surely be a decisive 12 months for the future of platform work in Europe.
Ben Wray, Gig Economy Project co-ordinator
