The European Parliament, meeting in plenary yesterday, has given the green light to its Committee on Employment and Social Affairs (EMPL) to negotiate with the Council on new rules to reclassify platform employees. The Parliament has taken the right turn by limiting the Platform Workers Directive’s scope to purely digital platform players.
IRU has long welcomed the EU’s initiative to stop practices that are contrary to European values and well-established national taxation and social security systems. The directive aims to improve working conditions and rights for gig workers in the European Union.
The Parliament’s endorsement yesterday of EMPL’s approach to draw the right line between true platforms and regular EU enterprises is a positive sign.
As MEPs now prepare to begin negotiating with member states, IRU welcomes the Parliament’s focus on the actual problem: digital labour platforms which are not playing according to the rules.
IRU EU Advocacy Director Raluca Marian said, “Yesterday’s vote is a significant win for commercial road transport operators and the broader industry. They can continue to successfully combine traditional employment and self-employment, in the right balance, and in full respect of social and taxation models.
“The European Parliament has recognised that this model should not be eliminated just because of some deviating practices. Instead, new digital players should embrace the rules.”
“Moreover, it’s a special victory for taxi dispatch centres, which have been recognised as not being part of the ride-hailing industry for the first time. We hope that the remaining text, especially Articles 4 and 5 on the legal presumption of employment, will be improved in subsequent negotiations with the Council,” concluded Raluca Marian.