EU labour and social ministers agreed to regulations determining when workers on platforms like Uber and Deliveroo should be treated as employees.
"Better working conditions for those delivering your meal at home!" a post from the rotating Belgian EU presidency on X, formerly Twitter said. Belgian officials mediated talks to pass the legislation in a key meeting in Brussels on Monday.
The Platform Work Directive would classify workers on "gig-economy" apps as employees in cases where platforms control factors such as how much money workers are paid or their working hours, or supervise their performance electronically. This is to grant access to labour rights where applicable.
The regulations set "minimum standards to improve working conditions for millions of platform workers across the EU," a statement from the Belgian labour minister Pierre-Yves Dermagne said.
Under the legislation, algorithims used for staffing and human resources would be made more transparent to ensure automated systems are monitored by staff. Workers may also contest automated decisions.
Burden of proof will be on the digital platform to show there is no employment relationship.
The agreement comes after two failures in February to win sufficient support among the European Union's 27 member states. Belgium negotiated on behalf of EU governments.
Germany abstained on the legislation due to internal divisions within the coalition government. This made finding a majority to agree on the legislation difficult. France also opposed.
To pass, the law needed the support of enough member states to represent 65% of the EU population.
The regulation still needs to be passed by the European Parliament but this is considered likely.
