Ref. Ares(2022)1661590 - 07/03/2022
From:
Sent:
lundi 10 mai 2021 16:43
To:
PEREIRA Ana Carla (CAB-SCHMIT); OLSSON Stefan (EMPL);
Cc:
Subject:
FLASH REPORT – Meeting between Cmssr SCHMIT and Markus
VILLIG, CEO and Founder of BOLT – 26/04/2021
Dear all,
Please find below a flash report on the meeting between Cmssr SCHMIT and Bolt’s CEO, which took
place on 26 April.
Best,
FLASH REPORT – Meeting between Cmssr SCHMIT and Markus VILLIG, CEO and Founder of BOLT –
26/04/2021
Participants:
European Commission
Nicholas SCHMIT, European Commissioner for Jobs and Social Rights
Antoine KASEL, Head of Cabinet of Commissioner SCHMIT
Santina BERTULESSI, Deputy Head of Cabinet of Commissioner SCHMIT
Ana Carla PEREIRA, Employment and Social Adviser to Commissioner SCHMIT
Fabien DELL, Member of Cabinet of Commissioner SCHMIT
Anouk FABER, Political Adviser to Commissioner SCHMIT
Bolt
Markus VILLIG, Founder and CEO
Dominick MOXON-TRITSCH, Vice President for Regulation and Public Policy
Main takeaways:
Markus VILLIG presented BOLT’s business and values, namely of building a more sustainable
world through its ride-hailing and food-delivery services. It has 400K contractors in 19 MS,
making it the 2nd biggest platform in Europe after Uber.
Cmssr SCHMIT said that the platform economy responds to a clear demand for such services,
while stressing that there is also a demand for a regulatory framework for it to develop in a fair
and sustainable manner, conjugating job flexibility and social protection.
Cmssr SCHMIT pointed to the extensive number (100+) of EU court cases concerning platform
work, signaling the need for legal clarity ensuring fairness and a level-playing field, by which
platforms who comply with the rules are not disadvantaged.
Cmssr SCHMIT said that the aim of the EU initiative is not to create barriers to the development
of the platform economy, but rather to enable all its actors to reap its opportunities while being
shielded from its challenges.
Cmssr SCHMIT explained that COM is in the process of formally consulting social partners, while
also stressing the importance of engaging in dialogue with platform companies. He then asked
Markus VILLIG what is Bolt’s view on the way forward.
Markus VILLIG said that the platform economy is experiencing huge growth and that in many
markets demand for Bolt’s services now outstrips supply. This pushes up drivers’ earning, which
are sometimes double or triple the market’s minimum wage.
Cmssr SCHMIT asked Bolt how they view platforms that offer an employee status and whether
they could do the same. He also asked their views on liability for algorithmic management users.
He stressed the EU initiative seeks to ensure a level playing-field while improving working
conditions.
Dominick MOXON-TRITSCH said that platforms like DeliveryHero and TakeAway use the
employee status but that this has not solved many problems experienced by platform workers,
also because the employee status encourages the black economy and ‘under-the-counter’
arrangements.
Dominick MOXON-TRITSCH also said that ‘robo-firing’ in the EU is already illegal, by means of
the P2B regulation requiring a ‘human-in-the-loop’ of account deactivation processes. On the
employment status, he added that hiring all drivers would mean giving jobs to 50/66% fewer
people than now.