Governments and lawmakers in the EU reached a weakened agreement about the labour rights of employees at Uber, Deliveroo, and other internet businesses.

After opposition from France, Ireland, Greece, Lithuania, and other nations scuttled the preliminary agreement that the two parties had struck in December, lawmakers were forced to return to the bargaining table.

Following lobbying by the companies and criticism from some nations, a preliminary agreement was reached on Thursday between EU lawmakers and Belgium, the current holder of the rotating EU presidency. This deal eliminates a set of criteria put forth by the European Commission to determine whether an online company is an employer.

Rather, determining whether a person is an employee will be determined by national legislation, collective bargaining agreements, and case law, thereby upholding the status quo.

Governments will also establish the employment standards for online workers, which businesses may contest. Additionally, it will be the responsibility of the corporations to demonstrate that their gig workers are not employees.

Before the agreement can become law, it must be approved by the representatives of the 27 EU countries in the next few days and then put to a formal vote on both sides.

Additionally, the agreement states that algorithms or automated systems should not be used to make critical choices like firing someone.

“We made sure that up to 40 million platform workers in Europe have access to fair labour conditions,” said lawmaker Elisabetta Gualmini who is steering the file through the legislative assembly.

Uber Eats, Deliveroo, Delivery Hero, Bolt, and Wolt are among the members of the lobbying group Delivery Platforms Europe, which stated that more might be done to assist businesses.

“Today’s provisional agreement is a missed opportunity to create clear rules to the benefit of platform workers and the sector as a whole. Getting it right is more important than getting a deal and we hope member states will prioritize getting it right,” it said.

(Adapted from Politico.eu)

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