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EU law on platform workers gets new chance to survive

Published

2 years ago

January 28, 2024

EU law on platform workers gets new chance to survive

Member states have given a new chance to the Platform Workers Directive, whose survival hangs by a thread.

Ambassadors to the EU agreed on Friday to a revised mandate, which enables the Council, represented by Belgium, to head back to negotiations with the European Parliament.

The face-to-face talks are expected to take place as early as next Tuesday in a race against the clock before the legislative cycle grinds to an absolute halt in anticipation of the upcoming EU elections to be held 6-9 June.

The road, however, is not yet clear: according to a diplomat who spoke on condition of anonymity, during Friday’s discussions, six member states either opposed the revised mandate or abstained, suggesting resistance to the directive is still well entrenched.

The draft law, unveiled in late 2021, is designed to improve the working conditions of those who service popular daily apps such as Uber, Deliveroo and Glovo, who are often treated as self-employed despite being under rules similar to regular employees.

The text’s centrepiece is a novel system of legal presumption that would readjust the status of platform workers if they meet a certain number of criteria, or conditions, in their day-to-day businesses, such as being forbidden from servicing a competitor app or being compelled to follow norms on appearance, conduct and performance.

Brussels estimates that about 5.5 million of the 28 million platform workers currently active in the European Union are misclassified and would therefore fall under the legal presumption. Doing so would make them entitled to rights like minimum wage, collective bargaining, work-time limits, health insurance, sick leave, unemployment benefits and retirement pensions – on par with any other regular worker.

Since the presentation of the directive, the legal presumption has come under intense scrutiny, not only by the platforms themselves, who fear ballooning costs to accommodate the updated status, but from liberal and right-wing governments wary of increasing administrative burden and slowing down the so-called Gig Economy.

Member states spent months trying to converge their diverging viewpoints and agreed on a common mandate in June last year, which added a provision to grant national authorities the “discretion of not applying the presumption” in certain cases.

The Parliament, by contrast, opted for a maximalist, workers-friendly position that made it harder for platforms to circumvent the legal presumption, strengthened the transparency requirements on algorithms and ramped up penalties for non-compliance.

The deep gap between the two institutions bogged down negotiations. It took six rounds of negotiations, a particularly high number, until a deal was reached in mid-December.

But while lawmakers cheered on the breakthrough, a rebellion erupted in the Council.

A larger-than-expected group of countries, including France, the Czech Republic, Ireland, Greece, Finland, Sweden and the three Baltic states, made it clear they could not support the new text, as they believed Spain, then holder of the rotating presidency, had drifted too far from the June mandate. Germany, the bloc’s most powerful state, kept silent, an attitude interpreted as a prelude to an abstention.

The last-minute opposition threw the entire process into disarray and raised serious doubts about whether the law would survive or fall apart.

Due to the upcoming elections to the Parliament, all interinstitutional negotiations have to conclude by mid-February. Those who fail to make it past the deadline are condemned to limbo and might very well be forgotten once the legislative cycle restarts in September.

Belgium, the current holder of the rotating presidency, strove to rescue the directive before it was too late and drafted a new compromise to bring all member states on board. The text, which ambassadors approved on Friday, mostly reverts to the June mandate, meaning the Council is back to where it once was.

However, the fact that the opposing countries lifted their resistance on Friday does not automatically mean they will consent to the outcome of the fresh round of negotiations. A diplomat from one of the hesitant states told Euronews the go-ahead came with “slight caution” attached and that Belgium should be careful “not to go too far.”

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World

Cuba's top destinations deserted, without power or fuel under US sanctions

Published

27 minutes ago

April 15, 2026

Press Room

Cuba's top destinations deserted, without power or fuel under US sanctions

The sun is setting in Pálpite, a small town on the edge of Cuba’s vast Zapata Swamp, when suddenly the road swarms with activity. But not with the red land crabs that once attracted hundreds of thousands of tourists annually to one of the island’s top eco-tourism destinations.

World

US destroyer interdicts two oil tankers trying to leave Iran during Trump’s blockade

Published

2 hours ago

April 15, 2026

Press Room

US destroyer interdicts two oil tankers trying to leave Iran during Trump’s blockade

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A U.S. destroyer interdicted two oil tankers that were trying to leave Iran on Tuesday, a U.S. official said, as part of the Trump administration’s blockade on Iranian ports.

The official told Reuters that the ships left Chabahar port on the Gulf of Oman before being contacted by the U.S. warship through radio communication. The official added that the tankers were among the six vessels that U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) said Tuesday obeyed orders from American forces to turn around and head back to an Iranian port on the Gulf of Oman.

“More than 10,000 U.S. Sailors, Marines, and Airmen along with over a dozen warships and dozens of aircraft are executing the mission to blockade ships entering and departing Iranian ports,” CENTCOM said. “During the first 24 hours, no ships made it past the U.S. blockade and 6 merchant vessels complied with direction from U.S. forces to turn around to re-enter an Iranian port on the Gulf of Oman.”

“The blockade is being enforced impartially against vessels of all nations entering or departing Iranian ports and coastal areas, including all Iranian ports on the Arabian Gulf and Gulf of Oman,” it added. “U.S. forces are supporting freedom of navigation for vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz to and from non-Iranian ports.”

TRUMP BLASTS CLOSE ALLY MELONI, SAYS SHE’S FAILING US ON IRAN

U.S. Central Command said Tuesday that “U.S. Navy guided-missile destroyers are among the assets executing a blockade mission impacting Iranian ports.” (CENTCOM)

The Pentagon did not immediately respond Wednesday to a request for comment from Fox News Digital regarding the reported interdiction of the oil tankers.

“U.S. Navy guided-missile destroyers are among the assets executing a blockade mission impacting Iranian ports. The blockade is being enforced impartially against vessels of all nations entering or leaving coastal areas or ports in Iran,” CENTCOM said Tuesday. “A typical destroyer has a crew of more than 300 Sailors that are highly trained in conducting offensive and defensive maritime operations.”

PRESIDENT TRUMP’S NEGOTIATING TEAM PRAISED BY NUCLEAR EXPERTS FOR WALKING AWAY FROM PAKISTAN TALKS

FILE PHOTO: Cargo ships in the Gulf, near the Strait of Hormuz, as seen from northern Ras al-Khaimah, near the border with Oman’s Musandam governance, amid the U.S.-Israeli conflict with Iran, in United Arab Emirates, March 11, 2026. (REUTERS/Stringer/File Photo/File Photo)

CENTCOM Commander Adm. Brad Cooper added in a statement that “a blockade of Iranian ports has been fully implemented as U.S. forces maintain maritime superiority in the Middle East.”

A satellite image shows the Strait of Hormuz, a key maritime passage connecting the Persian Gulf to the Gulf of Oman, vital for global energy supply. (Amanda Macias/Fox News Digital)

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Cooper said an estimated 90% of Iran’s economy is supported by international trade by sea.

“In less than 36 hours since the blockade was implemented, U.S. forces have completely halted economic trade going into and out of Iran by sea,” he also said.

Greg Norman is a reporter at Fox News Digital.

World

Magyar calls on Orbán to lift veto on Ukraine loan before his exit

Published

3 hours ago

April 15, 2026

Press Room

Magyar calls on Orbán to lift veto on Ukraine loan before his exit

Péter Magyar, the winner of the Hungarian elections and the country’s incoming prime minister, has called on Viktor Orbán to lift his controversial veto on the €90 billion loan for Ukraine before vacating his office in May.

The financial scheme was agreed by the 27 leaders of the European Union in December, but Orbán used his veto in mid-February to block the legal procedure over an unrelated dispute with Kyiv involving the Druzhba pipeline, which carries low-cost Russian oil.

The spat featured prominently in Orbán’s failed re-election campaign.

“Viktor Orbán accepted the loan (in December), and he said during the election campaign that as long as there is no oil, there is no money,” Magyar said on Wednesday during his first interview with the Hungarian public broadcaster since 2024.

Magyar referred to the words of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who this week said the pipeline could be repaired “not completely, but enough to function” by the end of the month. The infrastructure was badly damaged in January by Russian drones.

The restoration of flows will be “very important for our country”, Magyar said, signalling his desire to continue purchases of Russian oil in the near term.

“In the next 30 days, the Orbán government is still operating as an executive government,” Magyar added.

“So I think, if Druzhba restarts, Viktor Orbán will release his technical veto.”

Only one element of the €90 billion loan, a regulation amending the EU budget that requires unanimity, is still on hold. In principle, Orbán could order his ambassador in Brussels to lift the veto at any time and complete the legislative procedure.

However, it is far from clear if Orbán, who made Zelenskyy the nemesis of his campaign, will allow this to happen before leaving office sometime in May.

The European Commission is quickly laying the groundwork to make the first transfer to Kyiv as soon as the deadlock is broken. The executive has a reserve of borrowed cash at hand, so it is just waiting for the legal blessing to go ahead.

On Tuesday, the Commission said the offer to send an external inspection to the Druzhba pipeline and pay for the repair with EU funds, which were made to placate Orbán, was still applicable after the election. (The inspection has not yet taken place.)

“We, of course, expect all EU leaders, all member states, to abide by their commitments,” a Commission spokesperson said.

After a bitter clash with Orbán over his “unacceptable” veto, capitals are keen to turn the page and leave the episode behind.

Speaking alongside Zelenskyy on Tuesday, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said the military funds under the loan “must be disbursed promptly”.

“Ukraine urgently needs them. Ukraine will then be able to finance its defence in the long term. Russia should take this seriously,” Merz said.

Zelenskyy echoed the message and expressed confidence that, under Magyar’s leadership, Hungary would stop blocking “important” decisions for Ukraine.

“I am sure that we will cooperate with Hungary. We have good relations between the people. We are neighbours. We will continue these relations,” Zelenskyy said.

“I think we need to build our relations on pragmatism. We can also have friendly relations based on agreements and treaties. This will only strengthen both countries.”

Besides the loan, Hungary, together with Slovakia, is currently vetoing the 20th package of sanctions against Russia. It is also blocking Ukraine’s accession process and the release of €6.6 billion in military aid under the European Peace Facility (EPF).