[Europe] EU will allow self-employed to bargain collectively

New guidelines have been adopted by The European Commission on how solo self-employed people can negotiate collectively to improve working conditions without breaching EU competition rules, Law Society Gazette reports.

The Treaty on the Functioning of the EU (TFEU) prohibits agreements between undertakings that restrict competition.

The commission reportedly said that, while collective agreements between employers and workers are not subject to EU competition rules, self-employed people are considered ‘undertakings’ and risk infringing competition rules when negotiating collectively on their fees or other trading conditions.

Competition commissioner Margrethe Vestager said that self-employed individuals in the digital economy and beyond might not be able to individually negotiate good working terms and might therefore face difficult working conditions.

She added that getting together to collectively negotiate could be “a powerful tool” to improve such conditions.

Ms Vestager said that the new guidelines aimed to provide legal certainty to solo self-employed people, by clarifying when competition law did not stand in the way of their efforts to negotiate collectively.

They apply to self-employed individuals who work completely on their own and do not employ others.

The guidelines make it clear that competition law does not apply to solo self-employed people who are in a situation comparable to workers.

These include solo self-employed people who:

• Provide services exclusively or predominantly to one undertaking,
• Work side-by-side with workers, and
• Provide services to or through a digital labour platform.

In addition, the commission said that it will not enforce EU competition rules against collective agreements made by solo self-employed people who are in “a weak negotiating position”.

“This is, for instance, when solo self-employed people face an imbalance in bargaining power due to negotiations with economically stronger companies, or when they bargain collectively pursuant to national or EU legislation,” the EU body said.

Source: Law Society Gazette

(Link and quotes via original reporting)

New guidelines have been adopted by The European Commission on how solo self-employed people can negotiate collectively to improve working conditions without breaching EU competition rules, Law Society Gazette reports.

The Treaty on the Functioning of the EU (TFEU) prohibits agreements between undertakings that restrict competition.

The commission reportedly said that, while collective agreements between employers and workers are not subject to EU competition rules, self-employed people are considered ‘undertakings’ and risk infringing competition rules when negotiating collectively on their fees or other trading conditions.

Competition commissioner Margrethe Vestager said that self-employed individuals in the digital economy and beyond might not be able to individually negotiate good working terms and might therefore face difficult working conditions.

She added that getting together to collectively negotiate could be “a powerful tool” to improve such conditions.

Ms Vestager said that the new guidelines aimed to provide legal certainty to solo self-employed people, by clarifying when competition law did not stand in the way of their efforts to negotiate collectively.

They apply to self-employed individuals who work completely on their own and do not employ others.

The guidelines make it clear that competition law does not apply to solo self-employed people who are in a situation comparable to workers.

These include solo self-employed people who:

• Provide services exclusively or predominantly to one undertaking,
• Work side-by-side with workers, and
• Provide services to or through a digital labour platform.

In addition, the commission said that it will not enforce EU competition rules against collective agreements made by solo self-employed people who are in “a weak negotiating position”.

“This is, for instance, when solo self-employed people face an imbalance in bargaining power due to negotiations with economically stronger companies, or when they bargain collectively pursuant to national or EU legislation,” the EU body said.

Source: Law Society Gazette

(Link and quotes via original reporting)