Guidelines on applying EU competition law to collective agreements regarding the working conditions of solo self-employed persons

SUMMARY OF:

Guidelines on the application of EU competition law to collective agreements regarding the working conditions of solo self-employed persons

WHAT IS THE AIM OF THE GUIDELINES?

The guidelines clarify the circumstances in which persons without an employment contract or not in an employment relationship, providing services primarily through their own personal labour (solo self-employed persons), can negotiate collectively to improve their working conditions without breaching European Union (EU) competition rules.

KEY POINTS

Article 101 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union does not allow agreements between undertakings that restrict competition, notably where they directly or indirectly fix purchase or selling prices or any other trading conditions. While collective agreements between an employer (or employers) and workers are not covered by EU competition rules, solo self-employed persons are considered ‘undertakings’ and may risk infringing EU competition rules when they collectively negotiate fees or other trading conditions.

The guidelines clarify that:

EU competition law does not apply to the collective agreements of solo self-employed persons who are in a situation comparable to workers, i.e. when they:
- provide services exclusively or predominantly to a single undertaking,
- perform the same or similar work with workers of the same undertaking, or
- provide their services through a digital labour platform, such as a website or an app organising work carried out by individuals;
the European Commission will also not enforce EU competition rules against collective agreements made by solo self-employed persons who are in a weak negotiating position, for example when there is an imbalance in bargaining power in negotiations with economically stronger companies or when they bargain collectively following national or EU legislation.

Types of agreements covered by these guidelines

All forms of collective negotiations are covered, ranging from bargaining through social partners or other associations to direct negotiations by a group of solo self-employed persons, or their representatives, with the undertaking they work for, about issues including:

pay, rewards and bonuses;
working time and work patterns;
holiday and leave;
physical spaces where work takes place;
health and safety;
insurance and social security; and
conditions under which they are entitled to stop providing their services, or under which the undertaking is entitled to stop using their services.

The guidelines do not cover agreements on the pricing of services to consumers, or which limit the freedom of undertakings to hire the labour providers they need.

Persons covered by these guidelines

The guidelines apply to solo self-employed persons, namely self-employed persons providing services primarily through their own personal labour. These self-employed persons may use certain goods or assets as a means to provide their personal labour service, e.g. a cleaner using cleaning accessories and a musician playing a musical instrument.

However, the guidelines do not apply to persons whose employment consists only in using goods or assets, or reselling goods or services, such as renting out accommodation or reselling auto parts.

Monitoring

The Commission monitors how these guidelines are working at the national level through the European Competition Network and through meetings with European social partners. The Commission will consider reviewing its guidelines by 2030.

FROM WHEN DO THE GUIDELINES APPLY?

The guidelines were published on 30 September 2022.

BACKGROUND

For further information, see:

Questions and answers: Commission adopts guidelines on collective agreements of self-employed people (European Commission)
Questions and answers: Improving working conditions in platform work (European Commission).

MAIN DOCUMENT

Communication from the Commission Guidelines on the application of Union competition law to collective agreements regarding the working conditions of solo self-employed persons (OJ C 374, 30.9.2022, pp. 2–13).