What happens next

Many stakeholders at the European level have welcomed the proposed directive, including the German Social Insurance. But as is so often the case, the devil is in the details. In this case, in the criteria underlying the statutory presumption. Certainly, this will be an important issue in the upcoming trialogue process. This also applies to the demand made by the Austrian side for sufficiently flexible regulations for existing national legislation.

In contrast, the proposed regulations to ensure fairness, transparency, and accountability in algorithmic management receive much support. These are embedded in the European Commission’s digital strategy and are included both in the digital principles according to the European Commission as well as in the legislative proposal on artificial intelligence.

The extent to which the proposed directive will succeed in ensuring adequate social and occupational protection for platform workers in practice cannot, of course, be assessed today. However, the transparency and reporting requirements are an important building block for being able to determine the actual employment relationship of platform workers.

German Social Insurance will accompany the further ­process by providing up-to-date information and assessments.