The peer review was hosted by the German Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs (BMAS) and focus on the implementation of the labour conditions of platform workers in the EU.

Work provided or mediated through digital platforms is an emerging and evolving form of work in the EU. According to the Joint Research Centre report on the Colleem II survey, around 11% of the EU workforce has provided on-location or online services via platforms at least once. 1.4% does it as a main occupation. Overall, the online labour market has grown by 30% in two years. A third of EU platform work is estimated to be cross-border in nature.

Platform work provides new opportunities for both workers and businesses alike by lowering entry barriers to labour and product markets. It can therefore enable people to remain, or become, economically active by also providing increased flexibility, improved work-life balance and additional revenues to households.

However, people working on and via platforms often criticise a lack of transparency on the part of the platform and its far-reaching influence on the conditions for the provision of platform work. On the other hand, platforms often point out that they operate in an uncertain legal environment, as their new business models challenge existing market practices and legal frameworks.

A number of Member States have recently started to address some aspects of platform work however this has proven to be a challenging issue since the phenomenon is relatively new and the pace of technological and organisational change make it a "moving target”.

The peer review set the scene for future discussions on national and international initiatives aimed at improving the labour conditions of people working in the platform economy and allowed Member States to brainstorm on policy initiatives on the issue. 

During the peer review, the following topics were discussed:

• What are the challenges and opportunities observed in platform work and are they specific to this type of work-organisation?
• What policy instruments may be best suited for achieving better working conditions for platform workers (e.g. new labour laws or other legislation, social protection measures, taxation reform, voluntary agreements), and why?
• Which best practices exist in relation to platform work regulation?
• What could the EU do to improve working conditions and social protection of platform workers? What should be left to the national level?
• To what extent do the various existing EU-level legal instruments (e.g. GDPR, P2B regulation, competition and labour law provisions, etc.) play a role in protecting platform workers?