Remarks by Commissioner Schmit on the first-stage consultation of European social partners on possible action addressing the challenges related to working conditions in platform work - Hoofdinhoud

Thank you very much. Thank you Margrethe for your presentation, for setting out the importance of this file, and also the framework in which we are working.

I think what you said now is that we are very much in favour of promoting, developing the digital economy because this is something which is very much linked to the development of technology.

We see also that there are a lot of good opportunities there - job opportunities, and there is also a strong demand by the costumers - so I think this responds, indeed, to a very strong element in our society, in our economy.

But, at the same time, we need also to guarantee that this new economy does not develop outside the values, outside the norms, outside also of our legal frameworks - including also social rules and labour laws - which have been established and which guarantee that, finally, jobs have to be quality jobs.

People who have a job also have to benefit from social guarantees and social protection. So it is not about developing precarious working conditions, it is about promoting good jobs.

Therefore, with this consultation, we want this issue to be a win-win for everyone: for the platforms, obviously, because they are the driving force; for the workers, because, sometimes and in many cases, they do not enjoy the protection which other workers in the other economy, the traditional economy, enjoy; but also for the clients, obviously, and they are increasing.

Certainly, the platform economy is very diverse. We have the on-location platforms, we have the online platforms - the activities on these platforms are very different. Therefore, it is also not so easy to find a common solution. Probably, as usual, there is a ‘one-size-does-not-fit-all'. We have to adapt the different solutions.

This consultation - which is the normal procedure when we are working on social issues - is first addressing one of the central questions of the platforms: that is the employment status. Are the workers of the platforms self-employed or are they normal employees?

This is a crucial question, it is not an easy one, and I must say that there is not a unique response by the platforms. We do not have just one solution saying ‘platforms means self-employed'.

Recently, in an article published in a newspaper there was one of the heads of the platforms saying ‘no, my solution clear: a job is a job, and I am going for normal labour contracts'. So we are not facing a ‘one option-one solution' situation.

Certainly, we have a lot of Court rulings. The Court rulings do not all go into the same direction, but some go more in the direction of ‘yes, they are employees'.

All that shows that we are in some kind of a grey area, in a grey zone. There is a need for a clarification. This clarification is necessary to have this level-playing field in Europe. Also, because many platforms have a trans-border and even a global dimension, it is important to have a stronger clarification on this important issue of the employment status.

As I read, an Oxford law Professor said: ‘It is not up to a company to decide if a law applies to it or not'. So it has to be clearly established, which kind of status applies. That is one of the first important questions.

The other ones are:

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  What are the social rights which have to go with the platforms? I would even say independently of the status.
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  How does the algorithmic management function? Here it is a question also of rights, of protection of the worker, of dataprivacy.
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  Also, of working time - we have a Directive on working time: How far does this apply to these workers? This is a very important aspect of transparency.

Margrethe has already mentioned the collective representation and the possibility for having collective bargaining, so I do not come back to that.

So, this is the first step. Before going into this consultation, we had a lot of consultations with platforms, with workers on the platforms, with academia; also outside Europe with those who have already tried to have legal frameworks.

Now, it is time to ask social partners - workers on one side, but also the employers, the platforms,- how they see this. This is, as Margrethe has said, the first consultation. There will be a second one afterwards.

We are also closely listening to what happens in the Parliament. There is a draft report of the European Parliament on this issue now. This also shows that it is a very important topic.

There is a lot of discussion on it and, therefore, we are asked to respond and to give and answer, but before giving this answer, we want to know what social partners think.

Thank you.