Almost a year and a half after the European Commission’s submission, European Labour Ministers agreed to start negotiations on a general approach to the proposal.

As previously reported, the proposed directive aims to improve the working conditions of platform workers by facilitating the correct determination of their employment status through a rebuttable legal presumption. It also searches to improve platform workers’ personal data protection by improving transparency, fairness, and accountability in the use of automated monitoring or decision-making systems.

Twenty-two member states approved the general approach text at Luxembourg's Employment and Social Affairs Council (EPSCO). Only five – Estonia, Germany, Grece, Latvia, and Spain – abstained. There were no votes against it.

However, approval was far from a fated conclusion. On one hand, some Member States had called for a more ambitious text based on a powerful legal presumption. On the other hand, other Member States asked for more explicit exceptions to the presumption.

In a joint statement, countries that had wanted stronger safeguards for workers, confirmed the willingness of Member States to move forward with negotiations and to enter into new talks with the European Parliament and the Commission, aiming for a final EU-wide text before the 2024 elections.