Today, thanks to a push by Socialists and Democrats, the European Parliament took a critical step towards stronger rights for workers.
The PES is committed to a Directive on platform work that makes it easier for workers to clarify their status – either as employees or self-employed – and secure their rights.
Agnes Jongerius MEP, Chair of the PES Social Europe Network, said:
“Thanks to the S&D Group, the European Parliament has taken a major step towards improving conditions for platform workers, which number about 28 million people in the EU.
“We have always said that platform workers deserve a clear status, and that is why we have pushed hard for the platform work Directive, led by Nicolas Schmit in the Commission and Elisabetta Gualmini in the European Parliament.
“Today’s plenary vote give us a strong mandate to negotiate an ambitious Directive with member states. We hope the member states will agree quickly on an equally ambitious general approach. It is time to end the ambiguity surrounding the status of platform work, so workers have clear rights that they can access.”
The Directive saw several important developments at the end of 2022, when the EPSCO Council of 8 December blocked attempts by the Czech presidency to water down the Directive. Days later on 12 December, the European Parliament’s EMPL committee gave the greenlight to a report on the Directive by MEP Elisabetta Gualmini’s. The European Parliament plenary confirmed the rapporteur’s mandate on 2 February 2023.
