The Labour Law Framework: Self-Employed and Their Right to Bargain Collectively

Abstract

This paper focuses on the right to collective bargaining of self-employed workers vis-à-vis antitrust law under a European and International perspective. It argues that the current approach of the Court of Justice of the EU and the European Commission to this question is at odds with international sources of laws as it excessively limits the fundamental right to collective bargaining of self-employed workers. It does so by comparing the EU approach to the relevant normative sources of the ILO and the Council of Europe. It advocates the adoption of a "personal work relations" approach to solving this conflict. Accordingly, we suggest the adoption of an EU instrument laying down rights to collective bargaining that apply to "every worker in the European Union that provides work or services in a predominantly personal capacity and is not genuinely operating a business undertaking on his or her own account."

Keywords: competition law, collective bargaiing, self-employed work, personal work relations, platform work

JEL Classification: J23, J42, J51, J58, J2, J48, K21, L40