This year will be a crucial year for the platform economy. After the European Commission’s proposal on improving working conditions in platform work in December 2021 and long discussions in the European Parliament and Council in 2022, this year, the directive might be finally adopted – potentially impacting the lives of millions.

But let’s take one step back. The platform economy began to emerge in Europe in the mid-2000s, driven by rapidly developing technological innovations such as the widespread use of the internet and mobile devices, along with online applications. The Covid-19 crisis has accelerated the digitalisation of work and increased the need for labour for platforms such as Just Eat, Uber or Bolt. Nowadays, over 28 million people in the EU work through online platforms, and some estimates suggest that this number will increase to 43 million people by 2025.

While growing at an incredible speed, the impact of online platforms on the organisation of work and working conditions has been intensifying. The absence of legally binding definitions for platform activities and the provision of work is causing a deeper fragmentation in the EU labour market. Online platforms can operate across countries without formal registration and specific tax obligations, which are usually transferred to the individual contracts of workers that perform activities via the platforms. This leads to various misinterpretations of labour law and the creation of regulative loopholes for...

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