EU waters down law on app gig workers’ conditions

EU officials said negotiators struck a agreement on Thursday on rules that seek to improve conditions for those working through apps, but member states could still reject the deal. The European Union wants to approve the world’s first law covering the gig economy in a bid to give clarity to the status of millions of workers. The draft text had already been agreed in December. But days later a France-led resistance blocked the deal during a meeting of member states’ ambassadors. EU states and lawmakers returned to talks and over several weeks held many painstaking negotiations to reach an agreement, which officials announced on Thursday.

Negotiators “just found a provisional agreement,” Belgium, which holds the rotating EU presidency, said on social media. “We hope that this can be a first step towards better protection of platform workers.”

The issue is not out of the woods yet. Multiple sources including EU diplomats poured cold water on any assumption that the deal would be approved by member states.

“It has to be voted on by EU countries and it’s unlikely to pass. If they don’t get approval by February 16, the directive is postponed until after the European elections” later this year, a source close to the matter told AFP.

EU officials hope the EU’s 27 states will discuss the text on Friday, before a vote next week, and that there will be no further obstacles to formal adoption.

“Hopeful for a positive outcome... next week,” said the EU’s jobs and social rights commissioner, Nicolas Schmit, referring to a meeting of ambassadors on February 16 where the agreement will be on the agenda. The text will only become law after formal adoption by states and the parliament. The legislation has faced an uphill battle since last year. Under the original deal in December, many platform workers in Europe could be reclassified as employees if they met two out of five criteria.