EC Invites Comments On The Application Of EU Competition Law To Gig-Workers

The European Commission has launched a public consultation to gather views and evidence from citizens, businesses, social partners, academia, government bodies, and all interested parties as part of an initiative to ensure that EU competition rules do not stand in the way of collective bargaining by certain solo self-employed people.

Both in the digital economy and beyond, some solo self-employed might be in a situation of unbalanced negotiating power vis-à-vis certain companies/buyers of labor, leading them to have little influence over their payment and working conditions. Collective bargaining can be a powerful tool to achieve better working conditions.

According to EU competition law, self-employed are considered “undertakings” and thus risk infringing competition rules when they bargain collectively. Whilst it is not for competition policy to address the social challenges faced by self-employed people, the initiative could ensure that EU competition rules do not prevent self-employed in a weak position from engaging in collective negotiations or agreements to improve their working conditions. Any action in this field would at the same time need to ensure that consumers and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) continue to benefit from competitive prices and innovative business models, including in the digital economy.

Between January 6 and February 8, 2021, the Commission published for feedback an inception impact assessment, where it set out four initial options in this regard. The options range from covering only platform work to covering all solo self-employed.

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