In last-minute upset, France pitches new changes to gig work file

As EU ambassadors were due to meet on Friday (8 March) to try to agree again a provisional deal on the platform work directive, France circulated a set of changes it wants to make to the text, throwing another spanner in the works for the ill-starred file.

France’s one-pager, dated 8 March and seen by Euractiv, contains wording changes that will undoubtedly create a stir among EU27 ambassadors and further complicate the chances of an agreement.

A provisional agreement struck in early February by the European Commission, the Parliament, and the Presidency of the Council of the EU was voted down by member states on 9 February, with four countries – France, Germany, Estonia, and Greece – forming a blocking minority.

Under this deal, the legal presumption of employment was significantly watered down. This mechanism initially looked to harmonise reclassification processes through which self-employed platform workers could become full-time employees, if a subordinate relationship with the platform was established.

Under the provisional agreement, criteria that would be used to indicate subordination were deleted from the text, and member states are only obliged to create a presumption of employment in their national systems in such a way that its implementation would make it easier for workers to be considered for reclassification than the status quo.

But this did not please France, which has been a vocal sceptic about the directive, warning the legal presumption of employment could be so burdensome on platforms that it could lead to automatic reclassification of all workers.

Member states slam door shut on gig work directive

The Belgian Presidency failed to garner the necessary support from member states to agree a new platform work directive on Friday (16 February), effectively shelving the proposal, after more than two years of negotiations.

Annulling the applicability of the presumption

The French note creates a new recital clause, which in effect annuls the application of the presumption in instances where national law establishes that some groups of persons, such as platform workers, are by essence “genuinely” self-employed.

Recitals are non-legally binding, but they indicate how the legal text ought to be interpreted.

“This Directive fully respects the diversity in member states’ labour law and domestic social model of regulation of the platforms,” the recital states.

“While it seeks to facilitate the reclassification of bogus self-employed as workers through the legal presumption, it should not cover all situations of persons performing platform work, in particular where self-employment accurately reflects the reality of the contractual relationship,” the French note adds.

In conclusion, where national law establishes that a worker is indeed self-employed, or confers on platform workers the self-employed status, the legal presumption should not apply.

This is likely to cause quite a stir among EU capitals.

Not only does the suggested text change the nature of the legal presumption, but it is likely to be significant enough to require another round of interinstitutional negotiations – known as ‘trilogues’ – with no certainty that the European Parliament, which has always pushed for an ambitious text, will agree.

And time is running out to organise these negotiations as legislative work approaches its end and campaign time for June’s EU elections begins.

If either one of the four objectors – France, Germany, Estonia or Greece – approves the provisional text without Paris’ suggested changes, the platform work directive would be adopted at once.

Besides the ambassadors meeting and the French note, eyes were also on Tallinn – home to taxi app mogul Bolt – which held a parliamentary debate to agree a position at the national level.

Should a vote by EU ambassadors fail on Friday, the directive will be brought up as a discussion point at a meeting of labour ministers on Monday (11 March), for one final stab at a potential agreement.

[Edited by Zoran Radosavljevic]

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