Europe has the talent, the technology and the ambition to lead in the global digital economy. What it does with that ambition, in the details and in the choices made at the national level, is where it counts. The local transposition of Europe's Platform Work Directive is one of those moments.
Platform work sits at the intersection of labour policy, technology and economic opportunity. How each member state implements the Directive will shape the working lives of millions of people across the continent, and the conditions under which platforms like ours can keep contributing to European economies. The depth of operational knowledge within Just Eat Takeaway.com belongs in that conversation and so does the voice of the couriers. So let me share some of it.
Platform work is not the enemy of worker protection. Bad platform work is. And the difference between the two is not which legal label sits on a contract. It is whether the people doing the work have real autonomy, real earnings security, and a platform that genuinely supports them in their work.
For years, the debate in Europe has been framed as a binary: employment or flexibility, security or autonomy, platforms on one side and regulators and unions on the other, with workers caught in between. It is an understandable framing. It is also increasingly unhelpful.
The reality (JET has operated across multiple markets, regulatory regimes and logistics models) is that neither pole of this binary fully delivers for couriers. Employment arrangements can bring rigidity that limits earning potential and generates compliance overhead that doesn't always translate into better take-home pay. Traditional independent contracting, meanwhile, has too often left couriers without adequate social protections. Both models, as currently practised, are leaving something on the table.
The transposition of Europe's Platform Work Directive is the opportunity to move beyond this false choice. Taking that opportunity requires that platforms like us, which operate all forms of platform work at scale in multiple countries, shape the future generation of platform work.
JET is, to our knowledge, the only major technology-driven food delivery platform in Europe that has operated all three logistics models (direct employment, independent contracting, and third-party logistics) simultaneously and at scale across Europe.
We have seen what works and what does not, for couriers firstly, but also for our partners and for our business, under different regulatory conditions and in different economic contexts. Over ten years of that operational experience sit behind our vision, giving us the obligation to use our seat at the table.
Here is something that tends to get lost in the policy debates: who better to judge than the platform workers themselves, the couriers, and their views are consistent and clear.
In the UK and Ireland, 8 in 10 couriers consistently name flexibility as the primary reason they chose this work. In Poland, 87% of couriers want exactly this kind of autonomy. In Austria, 84% say the ability to work when they want is important to them, and 81% value the flexibility to work how they want.1
We are talking about couriers who have chosen how they want to work and are telling us, clearly, that flexibility is not a concession; it is an element of platform work they value.
Our vision is built around three elements that we believe every courier deserves, regardless of whether they work for us as an employee, an independent contractor, or through a third-party logistics provider.
For independent contractors, that means genuine autonomy over when, where and how they work, including, of course, the right to work across multiple platforms simultaneously. For employed couriers, it means advocating for greater scheduling control and dynamic pay structures within whatever framework local regulation and collective agreements allow. Flexibility should be defined from the courier's perspective, not the platform's.
Every courier should be able to see exactly how their pay is calculated (every incentive, every bonus, every tip) and receive it promptly. We support a legal minimum pay floor for the hours couriers work — across all worked hours for employed couriers, and calculated on the basis of engaged time for independent contractors. We are also developing a benefits programme for IC couriers to provide supplementary protections, and will share details as it takes shape.
Our app, our AI tools, and our courier support are an essential part of our vision. They either make a courier's working day easier, safer and more rewarding, or they do not. We are investing to make sure they do.
When platform work is done right, the impact extends well beyond the individual courier. Flexible supply that adjusts to real demand means services can reach communities that a fixed-cost employment model would never make economically viable: smaller towns, peripheral neighbourhoods, the restaurant on the edge of the delivery radius that can now reach customers it never could before.
A better implementation of the Platform Work Directive will create better outcomes not just for couriers but for partners, communities and local economies.
The local implementation of Europe's Platform Work Directive has the potential to set a global standard while showing that worker protection and economic dynamism are not opposites. That would be a genuine European achievement, and one we would be proud to have contributed to.
We are committed to being a constructive partner in that process. We will share our operational experience and our learnings, including what has not worked. We will be transparent about where we are on our own journey and where we are still working to get to. That is what ten years of operating across all three logistics models gives us: an honest experience.
The Platform Work Directive allows Europe to move beyond the positions that have calcified on both sides and build something that actually works for everyone. That window is open. We intend to make the most of it.
Learn more about our Platform Work vision here.