Platform economy database
Database of initiatives and court cases in the EU
Eurofound’s platform economy database provides information on 412 initiatives and court cases that exist or have been implemented in relation to activities in the platform economy. The database was last updated in May 2025 and provides metadata for each entry, such as geographical scope, year, type of initiative, actors involved, sector and companies concerned. Initiatives include legal instruments such as legislative changes or court decisions, as well as voluntary interventions undertaken by different stakeholders to address issues around platform work.
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The database currently contains 412 entries and was last updated in May 2025.
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Finland
In May 2025, the Finnish Supreme Administrative Court ruled on whether Wolt couriers were employees or independent contractors, finding that the couriers met all the criteria for an employment relationship under Finnish law. The ruling overturns a ruling by a lower court, the administrative court in Hämeenlinna, which had found the couriers to be independent contractors.
The court noted that while the couriers displayed some features typical of independent contractors, Wolt exercised significant control and monitoring over the couriers, indicating that their independence was largely fictitious.
Although found to be employees, the court ruled that the Working Hours Act does not apply to the couriers. The curt concluded that the couriers' work was characterised by working time autonomy as they could decide their working hours and the overall length of their work was not pre-defined. Consequently, the couriers were not covered by the Working Hours Act.
Reasons for Claiming Employee Status: * The couriers were found to be in a subordinate position to the company. * The company was able to "monitor and supervise the couriers' work performance with the help of the digital platform it managed". * The company set "requirements for couriers regarding the quality of their work.
The court concluded that because of this control and supervision, the couriers' independence was "partly only apparent and to cover up the actual employment relationship".
Motivation for NOT applying the Working Hours Act:
Supreme Administrative Court. This is a final ruling from Finland's highest court for administrative law matters.
In February 2024, the Finnish delivery company Wolt won a landmark court case where its couriers were ruled to be entrepreneurs, not employees. The administrative court in Hämeenlinna assessed the …
The platform economy is one of those moving targets, which, despite receiving increasing media and policy attention, has proven difficult to regulate. Given the heterogeneity of employment relationships, business models, types of platform work and cross-border issues, this is not surprising.
Technological change is accelerating as the capacity of electronic devices to digitally store, process and communicate information expands. Digitalisation is transforming the EU economy and labour markets: nearly one-third of EU workplaces are categorised as highly digitalised. What are the implications of the digital revolution for employment and work?
The rapid rise of the platform economy has led to a marked transformation of European labour markets, and existing regulatory frameworks and voluntary initiatives have yet to catch up. While platform work offers opportunities for workers and employers and potentially contributes to innovation, economic growth and competitiveness in the EU, it has been criticised from the beginning because of the poor employment and working conditions often experienced by workers.
While 2020 may come to be seen as the year platform work gathered pace and started to go mainstream – thanks in large part to COVID-19 containment measures sparking an increase in food and grocery delivery – 2021 could be the year that regulation of platform work is set in motion.
