28m+
Platform workers in 2022
More than 28 million people in the EU worked through one or more digital labour platforms.
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"Regardless of the type and duration of the employment relationship, workers have the right to fair and equal treatment regarding working conditions, access to social protection and training. The transition towards open-ended forms of employment shall be fostered.
In accordance with legislation and collective agreements, the necessary flexibility for employers to adapt swiftly to changes in the economic context shall be ensured.
Innovative forms of work that ensure quality working conditions shall be fostered. Entrepreneurship and self-employment shall be encouraged. Occupational mobility shall be facilitated.
Employment relationships that lead to precarious working conditions shall be prevented, including by prohibiting abuse of atypical contracts. Any probation period should be of reasonable duration".
In accordance with legislation and collective agreements, the necessary flexibility for employers to adapt swiftly to changes in the economic context shall be ensured.
Innovative forms of work that ensure quality working conditions shall be fostered. Entrepreneurship and self-employment shall be encouraged. Occupational mobility shall be facilitated.
Employment relationships that lead to precarious working conditions shall be prevented, including by prohibiting abuse of atypical contracts. Any probation period should be of reasonable duration".
The EU Directive on digital labour platforms
Work changes and workers have to develop new knowledge and adaptation skills. Digital platforms have created new forms of collaboration and in the absence of rules these can lead to more unfavorable conditions. For this reason, the EU has taken initiatives for greater protection of those workers.
On 23 October 2024, the EU published the DIRECTIVE (EU) 2024/2831 on improving working conditions in platform work. wich establishes the first EU-level legal framework specifically designed to improve working conditions in platform work.
It applies to digital labour platforms and to people performing platform work in the EU, regardless of how their contractual relationship is formally labelled. Its core objective is to address three major problems: false self-employment, opaque algorithmic management and insufficient transparency for national authorities.
The first major pillar concerns the correct determination of employment status.
The directive requires Member States to ensure that the real nature of the working relationship is assessed on the basis of facts, including how the platform organises and controls the work. It introduces a legal presumption of employment where facts indicate control and direction by the platform. This means that, in relevant administrative or judicial proceedings, the burden may shift to the platform to prove that the person is genuinely self-employed. The aim is to prevent workers from being wrongly classified as independent contractors when they are in practice subject to platform control.
The second pillar concerns algorithmic management. Platform work is often organised through automated systems that allocate tasks, set prices, evaluate performance, restrict access to work or deactivate accounts. The directive requires platforms to provide clear information on automated monitoring and decision-making systems, including how they affect working conditions. It also restricts the processing of certain sensitive personal data, such as emotional or psychological states, private conversations, health data or data collected while the person is not performing platform work.
A key innovation is the requirement for human oversight and review. Platforms must monitor the impact of automated systems on working conditions and ensure that significant decisions are not left entirely to algorithms. People performing platform work must have the right to receive explanations for decisions that significantly affect them, including restrictions, suspensions, termination of accounts or changes to pay and task allocation. They must also have access to a human contact point and the possibility to challenge such decisions.
The directive also strengthens information and consultation rights. Worker representatives must be informed and consulted on decisions likely to introduce or substantially change automated monitoring or decision-making systems. In larger platforms, representatives may be assisted by experts. This links platform regulation with collective labour rights and social dialogue.
Another important part concerns transparency towards public authorities. Digital labour platforms must declare platform work to the competent authorities and provide information on the number of people performing platform work, their contractual status and general terms and conditions. This is designed to help labour inspectorates, social security institutions and tax authorities enforce existing rules more effectively.
The directive includes enforcement safeguards: access to dispute resolution, protection against retaliation and dismissal, access to evidence, penalties for violations and support for representatives or organisations defending platform workers’ rights.
Member States must transpose the directive into national law by 2 December 2026. Analytically, the directive is significant because it treats platform work as part of labour law, not merely as digital innovation. Its effectiveness will depend on national implementation, the design of the employment presumption, enforcement capacity and the ability of workers and representatives to scrutinise algorithmic systems.
It applies to digital labour platforms and to people performing platform work in the EU, regardless of how their contractual relationship is formally labelled. Its core objective is to address three major problems: false self-employment, opaque algorithmic management and insufficient transparency for national authorities.
The first major pillar concerns the correct determination of employment status.
The directive requires Member States to ensure that the real nature of the working relationship is assessed on the basis of facts, including how the platform organises and controls the work. It introduces a legal presumption of employment where facts indicate control and direction by the platform. This means that, in relevant administrative or judicial proceedings, the burden may shift to the platform to prove that the person is genuinely self-employed. The aim is to prevent workers from being wrongly classified as independent contractors when they are in practice subject to platform control.
The second pillar concerns algorithmic management. Platform work is often organised through automated systems that allocate tasks, set prices, evaluate performance, restrict access to work or deactivate accounts. The directive requires platforms to provide clear information on automated monitoring and decision-making systems, including how they affect working conditions. It also restricts the processing of certain sensitive personal data, such as emotional or psychological states, private conversations, health data or data collected while the person is not performing platform work.
A key innovation is the requirement for human oversight and review. Platforms must monitor the impact of automated systems on working conditions and ensure that significant decisions are not left entirely to algorithms. People performing platform work must have the right to receive explanations for decisions that significantly affect them, including restrictions, suspensions, termination of accounts or changes to pay and task allocation. They must also have access to a human contact point and the possibility to challenge such decisions.
The directive also strengthens information and consultation rights. Worker representatives must be informed and consulted on decisions likely to introduce or substantially change automated monitoring or decision-making systems. In larger platforms, representatives may be assisted by experts. This links platform regulation with collective labour rights and social dialogue.
Another important part concerns transparency towards public authorities. Digital labour platforms must declare platform work to the competent authorities and provide information on the number of people performing platform work, their contractual status and general terms and conditions. This is designed to help labour inspectorates, social security institutions and tax authorities enforce existing rules more effectively.
The directive includes enforcement safeguards: access to dispute resolution, protection against retaliation and dismissal, access to evidence, penalties for violations and support for representatives or organisations defending platform workers’ rights.
Member States must transpose the directive into national law by 2 December 2026. Analytically, the directive is significant because it treats platform work as part of labour law, not merely as digital innovation. Its effectiveness will depend on national implementation, the design of the employment presumption, enforcement capacity and the ability of workers and representatives to scrutinise algorithmic systems.
Platform work in the EU: a fast-growing workforce in search of clearer rights
Platform work has become one of the most visible expressions of Europe’s changing labour market. It is based on digital labour platforms that connect people or organisations needing services with workers who provide them for payment. These services can be local and on-site, such as food delivery, taxi driving, babysitting or care work, but also remote, such as translation, data input or online tasks. The platform work is a part of a rapidly growing digital economy that accelerated during the COVID-19 period, especially through food and grocery delivery services.
The scale of the phenomenon is significant. Over 43 million people in the EU worked through one or more digital labour platforms in 2025. This represents an increase of around 15 million people, or more than 50%, in only a few years.
This does not mean that all platform workers depend on platforms as their main source of income. Platform work is generally a secondary source of income, in addition to regular work. However, even when platform work is complementary, it raises important questions about employment status, social protection, algorithmic management and access to labour rights.
A central issue is the distinction between self-employment and employment. Most platform workers in the EU are formally self-employed, including many taxi drivers, domestic workers and food delivery couriers. Yet some of them are subject to rules and restrictions similar to those applied to employees. This creates a grey zone: workers may be formally independent but, in practice, economically and organisationally dependent on the platform.
The EU’s rules on platform work therefore focus on two key objectives. First, they aim to make it easier to determine the correct employment status of platform workers through a rebuttable legal presumption of employment where facts show control and direction by the platform. Second, they introduce EU-level rules on algorithmic management, including information rights, limits on the processing of sensitive data and human oversight of significant automated decisions such as account suspension.
The economic dimension is also important. The EU has around 500 digital labour platforms, active in every Member State. Between 2016 and 2020, revenues in the platform economy grew almost fivefold, from about €3 billion to around €14 billion. The largest revenues are estimated in delivery and taxi services, which explains why these sectors are often at the centre of legal and political debates on platform work.
Analytically, platform work is not only a digital innovation story. It is also a test case for the future of labour regulation. The challenge is to preserve flexibility and innovation while ensuring that workers are not excluded from basic labour rights, social protection and transparent working conditions. The EU’s platform work directive marks an important step because it treats algorithmic management and employment classification as labour-policy issues, not only as technology or market questions.
The scale of the phenomenon is significant. Over 43 million people in the EU worked through one or more digital labour platforms in 2025. This represents an increase of around 15 million people, or more than 50%, in only a few years.
This does not mean that all platform workers depend on platforms as their main source of income. Platform work is generally a secondary source of income, in addition to regular work. However, even when platform work is complementary, it raises important questions about employment status, social protection, algorithmic management and access to labour rights.
A central issue is the distinction between self-employment and employment. Most platform workers in the EU are formally self-employed, including many taxi drivers, domestic workers and food delivery couriers. Yet some of them are subject to rules and restrictions similar to those applied to employees. This creates a grey zone: workers may be formally independent but, in practice, economically and organisationally dependent on the platform.
The EU’s rules on platform work therefore focus on two key objectives. First, they aim to make it easier to determine the correct employment status of platform workers through a rebuttable legal presumption of employment where facts show control and direction by the platform. Second, they introduce EU-level rules on algorithmic management, including information rights, limits on the processing of sensitive data and human oversight of significant automated decisions such as account suspension.
The economic dimension is also important. The EU has around 500 digital labour platforms, active in every Member State. Between 2016 and 2020, revenues in the platform economy grew almost fivefold, from about €3 billion to around €14 billion. The largest revenues are estimated in delivery and taxi services, which explains why these sectors are often at the centre of legal and political debates on platform work.
Analytically, platform work is not only a digital innovation story. It is also a test case for the future of labour regulation. The challenge is to preserve flexibility and innovation while ensuring that workers are not excluded from basic labour rights, social protection and transparent working conditions. The EU’s platform work directive marks an important step because it treats algorithmic management and employment classification as labour-policy issues, not only as technology or market questions.
EU Platform Work
Europe’s platform workforce in figures
Digital labour platforms are reshaping work across the EU, from delivery and taxi services to online tasks, care work and remote digital services.
43m
Expected by 2025
The number of platform workers was expected to reach 43 million by 2025.
+15m
Projected increase
The EU platform workforce was projected to grow by about 15 million people between 2022 and 2025.
500
Digital labour platforms
Around 500 digital labour platforms operate in the EU, with platforms active in every Member State.
€3bn → €14bn
Revenue growth
Platform economy revenues grew almost fivefold between 2016 and 2020.
Delivery & taxi
Largest revenue sectors
The biggest revenues are estimated in delivery and taxi services.
Policy relevance: Most platform workers are formally self-employed, but some work under
conditions that resemble employment. The EU platform work rules aim to clarify employment status,
improve access to labour rights and regulate algorithmic management.
Source: Council of the European Union, EU rules on platform work .
Self-Employed People: Guidelines on the application of EU competition law
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On 29 September 2022, the European Commission has adopted its Guidelines on the application of EU competition law to collective agreements (‘Guidelines') regarding the working conditions of solo self-employed people. The Guidelines clarify when certain self-employed people can get together to negotiate collectively better working conditions without breaching EU competition rules.
Aim of the Guidelines: The guidelines clarify how individuals without employment contracts, specifically solo self-employed persons, can negotiate collectively to improve their working conditions without violating EU competition rules. Key Points:
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Click to read
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- The European Commission will not enforce competition rules against collective agreements made by solo self-employed individuals who are at a disadvantage in negotiations with more powerful companies or when such negotiations are in line with national or EU laws.
Types of Agreements Covered: The guidelines encompass various forms of collective negotiations, including:
- Bargaining through social partners or associations.
- Direct negotiations by groups of solo self-employed persons with the undertaking regarding:
- Pay, rewards, and bonuses.
- Working hours and patterns.
- Holiday and leave entitlements.
- Workspaces and health and safety conditions.
- Insurance and social security.
- Conditions under which services can be terminated by either party.
Exclusions: The guidelines do not apply to agreements that set prices for consumer services or restrict an undertaking’s freedom to hire necessary labor providers.
Scope: The guidelines specifically address solo self-employed individuals providing services primarily through personal labor. They may use goods or assets to assist in providing their services (e.g., cleaners with cleaning supplies or musicians with instruments). However, they do not apply to those whose work is limited to using or reselling goods and services.
Monitoring and Implementation: The European Commission will monitor the implementation of these guidelines at the national level through the European Competition Network and discussions with social partners. A review of the guidelines is planned by 2030. The guidelines were published on September 30, 2022.
eBriefing PaaS · EU Secure & Adaptable Employment
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