France, Germany Rejects EU Deal on Watered-Down App Worker Law

France and Germany have rejected a watered-down version of the European Union's (EU) contentious rules regarding app workers in the gig economy.

According to AFP, the EU aimed to implement comprehensive rules across the bloc, intending to enhance conditions for app workers by potentially reclassifying some as employees.

However, the latest version of the agreement significantly scaled back these efforts by eliminating a formal set of criteria and granting individual states the authority to determine worker classifications.

France and Germany Reject the App Worker Law

Approval of the agreement required a qualified majority of 15 out of 27 EU nations comprising at least 65 percent of the bloc's population.

At a gathering of ambassadors from member states in Brussels, France, and Germany, along with Estonia and Greece, objected to the text, thereby hindering the achievement of the required qualified majority.

The opposition was driven by apprehensions voiced by a French diplomat regarding the proposed text's lack of unified rules throughout Europe and its potential to result in legal uncertainties.

Belgium, currently holding the rotating EU presidency, recognized the inability to garner the essential majority and suggested the exploration of alternative measures.

Despite the setback, EU diplomats suggested that the presidency would persevere, citing support from 23 countries. However, skepticism remains, with time constraints posing a challenge to finding a new compromise and finalizing the legislative process before the upcoming European elections in June.

Subject of Contention

AFP reported that the draft rules have been a subject of contention since the European Commission introduced the text in 2021. While member states and the European Parliament initially reached an agreement on the draft in December 2023, a blockade led by France disrupted the deal shortly after that.

But last week, EU negotiators returned to the table and reached a new deal. The original text proposed in December said if a staff met two out of five criteria, it would be presumed they were an employee, granting them access to benefits such as sick pay.

The objective was to standardize decisions across European courts, which had previously exhibited significant variation. The failure to reach an agreement drew criticism from workers' groups, who argued that millions of precarious platform workers would continue to lack essential rights.

Left-wing French MEP Leila Chaibi accused French President Emmanuel Macron of favoring Uber's interests throughout the negotiations. Conversely, the industry welcomed the rejection, asserting that it would avoid further legal uncertainties for ride-hailing drivers in Europe.

Move EU, an association representing ride-hailing platforms including Uber and Bolt, called for a discussion pause and urged reassessment following the European elections.

According to the EU parliament, approximately 5.5 million individuals could be misclassified as self-employed. The gig economy in Europe currently supports around 28 million workers, a figure anticipated to increase to 43 million by 2025.