Platform economy database
Database of initiatives and court cases in the EU
Eurofound’s platform economy database provides information on 412 initiatives and court cases that exist or have been implemented in relation to activities in the platform economy. The database was last updated in May 2025 and provides metadata for each entry, such as geographical scope, year, type of initiative, actors involved, sector and companies concerned. Initiatives include legal instruments such as legislative changes or court decisions, as well as voluntary interventions undertaken by different stakeholders to address issues around platform work.
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The database currently contains 412 entries and was last updated in May 2025.
On 21 February 2025, the Dutch Supreme Court ruled on how to determine employee status. The court clarified that there is no hierarchy among the factors relevant in determining if there is an employment agreement.
In the ruling, the court specifically examined the 'entrepreneurship' factor, i.e. factors indicating self-employment, clarifying that…
The VBAR bill (Verduidelijking beoordeling arbeidsrelaties or Clarification of Assessment of Labour Relations) aims to reduce bogus self-employment by clarifying the distinction between employment and self-employment.
The VBAR bill introduces a new framework for assessing the status of an employment relationship, known as the "WZOP test". The tes…
The District Court of Amsterdam ruled against a claim of false self-employment made by trade unions FNV and CNV regarding workers providing services through the digital labour platform Temper. Temper in digital labour platform matching clients with workers who provide on-location services in sectors such as cleaning, construction, catering, and so…
A court in Utrecht has ruled that workers on digital platforms such as Getir or Flink are covered by the collective agreement for the supermarket sector.
The court decision affects digital platforms that provide supermarket deliveries, in particular Getir, Flink, Picnic and Gorillas. The court has found that riders and drivers carrying out deliv…
The Dutch Supreme Court has ruled on 24 November 2023 that the activities of Deliveroo fall under the binding Collective Labour Agreement for Professional Goods Transport, and thus, are covered by the industry wide pension fund for professional road transport.
This decision follows two previous rulings by the Amsterdam Court of Appeal in December …
On 24 March 2023, in a landmark ruling, the Dutch Supreme Court upheld a ruling by the Court of Appeal that Deliveroo riders were legally employees, not independent contractors. The court applied the "substance over form" principle, which means that the legal classification of a relationship is determined by its actual characteristics, not just by…
In the Netherlands, the trade union Werkvereniging represents and mobilises workers regardless of their employment status. It advocates for a labour market and social security system that includes and benefits flexible workers, self-employed, workers on temporary employment contracts and workers in permanent employment. In this sense, it strives t…
The platform for self-employed entrepreneurs aims to strengthen independent entrepreneurship through lobbying, the creation of a support structure for entrepreneurs and the promotion of collaborations and networks at local, regional and national level. Among others, the organisation aspires to the modernisation of the current labour law. This is b…
In the Netherlands, food delivery riders affiliated to the food delivery platform Deliveroo set up an action group and tried to mobilise riders of similar platforms (Foodora, Uber Eats, Thuisbezorgd).
Among their main activities are protest marches organised during late 2017 against riders’ forced self-employment as per February 2018, as well as t…
21 records found
| Date | Title | Tags |
|---|---|---|
| 26 August 2024 | Uber Receives €290 Million Fine for EU Data Protection Violations
Initiative | On-location determined |
|
| 4 April 2023 | Amsterdam Court of Appeal rules Uber violated data protection rights
Court ruling | On-location determined |
Tag Updated |
| 13 January 2023 | Helpling Netherlands declared bankrupt by Court in Amsterdam
Court ruling | On-location negotiated |
|
| 3 December 2021 | E-commerce employers organisation established
Initiative | No platform work typology |
|
| 23 November 2021 | Regulations of Airbnb in the Netherlands
Legislation | On-location negotiated |
|
| 23 November 2021 | ShareNL
Initiative | No platform work typology |
|
| 23 November 2021 | Dutch Court rules in favour of emplyoee status for Deliveroo riders
Court ruling | On-location determined |
|
| 23 November 2021 | Deliveroo strikes Netherlands and Belgium
Initiative | On-location determined |
|
| 21 September 2021 | Amsterdam Court of Appeal declares Helpling cleaners are temporary workers
Court ruling | On-location negotiated |
|
| 13 September 2021 | Amsterdam Court Rules in favour of employee status (Uber)
Court ruling | On-location determined |
Tag Updated |
| 11 March 2021 | District Court of Amsterdam: Uber does not need to provide further information or data to riders
Court ruling | On-location determined |
|
| 11 March 2021 | District Court of Amsterdam: Ola does not need to provide further information or data to drivers
Court ruling | On-location determined |
|
| 22 January 2021 | Agreement to collaborate between FNV and Temper
Initiative | On-location negotiated |
|
| 21 January 2021 | ShareNL
Initiative | No platform work typology |
|
| 15 January 2021 | Giggin’ Policy Project
Initiative | No platform work typology |
|
| 15 December 2020 | Lawsuit FNV: Uber drivers get too little
Court ruling | On-location determined |
Tag Updated |
| 11 July 2019 | Online platform Helpling is not allowed to charge any commission to cleaners
Court ruling | On-location negotiated |
|
| 16 January 2019 | FNV wins two lawsuits against Deliveroo (FNV wint twee rechtszaken tegen Deliveroo)
Court ruling | On-location determined |
|
| 15 January 2019 | FNV against Deliveroo on employment status
Court ruling | On-location determined |
|
| 15 January 2019 | FNV against Deliveroo on collective agreement
Court ruling | On-location determined |
|
| 23 July 2018 | Amsterdam Court Rules Deliveroo Rider Self-Employed, Not Employee
Court ruling | On-location determined |
The platform economy is one of those moving targets, which, despite receiving increasing media and policy attention, has proven difficult to regulate. Given the heterogeneity of employment relationships, business models, types of platform work and cross-border issues, this is not surprising.
Technological change is accelerating as the capacity of electronic devices to digitally store, process and communicate information expands. Digitalisation is transforming the EU economy and labour markets: nearly one-third of EU workplaces are categorised as highly digitalised. What are the implications of the digital revolution for employment and work?
The rapid rise of the platform economy has led to a marked transformation of European labour markets, and existing regulatory frameworks and voluntary initiatives have yet to catch up. While platform work offers opportunities for workers and employers and potentially contributes to innovation, economic growth and competitiveness in the EU, it has been criticised from the beginning because of the poor employment and working conditions often experienced by workers.
While 2020 may come to be seen as the year platform work gathered pace and started to go mainstream – thanks in large part to COVID-19 containment measures sparking an increase in food and grocery delivery – 2021 could be the year that regulation of platform work is set in motion.
