Commenting on the EU directive proposal to improve working conditions in platform work, BDA Managing Director Steffen Kampeter said:

Berlin, 9 December 2021 The Commission's proposal for a directive unfortunately provides a European one-size-fits-all solution for the contractual classification of platform workers, although the legal systems of the Member States differ significantly. Insufficiently defined criteria are proposed to make all platform workers traditional employees by EU law. The proposal thus interferes significantly with national labour law. The reversal of the burden of proof to the detriment of the platform companies contradicts the burden of presentation and proof in German procedural law.

Wherever platform work poses a challenge in the Member States in relation to working conditions and social protection, potential problems must be addressed nationally. We, as employers, are behind this. We reject undercutting competition in the labour market. Instead of another push for harmonisation in European social policy, we would have liked to see more confidence in national solutions.