Social Europe

  • EU Forward Project
  • YouTube
  • Podcast
  • Books
  • Newsletter
  • Membership

One Person, One Car? The Digital Revolution’s Platform Economy

Philippe Pochet 25th November 2015

Philippe Pochet

Philippe Pochet

Before the ‘digital revolution’ things were relatively simple. A taxi equalled a car plus a driver. This driver could be self-employed or employed by a taxi company – or, possibly, a member of a cooperative. He or she paid taxes and social security contributions. Taxi-driving was an occupation, usually both full-time and long-term (except in those cases where it was a second job). The only – relatively marginal – alternative was hitchhiking.

The digital revolution – to be more precise, the emergence of digital platforms – has fundamentally altered this simple equation. Today ‘person + car’ can be the sum of at least four different combinations, the first of which is still the one described above, albeit enhanced by some technological improvements (mobile appliances, GPS, etc.).

The second combination is that of a part-time job carried out for a few hours per day or per week, generally in conjunction with some other status or activity (student, unemployment, employment or self-employment, retirement – or even taxi-driving). This applies to Uber and other similar agents about whom we hear less, like the new Flex service launched by Amazon which makes each one of us into a potential ‘delivery boy’ paid on a piece-work basis. What is the status of these workers? Unclear – as is shown in particular by the recent efforts of Uber workers to obtain employee status.

The third possibility is to reduce your own transportation costs – generally for long journeys – by offering to share your vehicle with one or more other people. This is the kind of ‘car-pooling’ arrangement organised by the Blablacar platform: a paying service for a sharing economy. Yet the nature of the transaction is hardly clear here either: is it some sort of cost-sharing contract?

The fourth combination, finally, is to rent out your own car – for a week or weekend when you are not using it – to other users. This combination too – a way of providing some extra income that contributes to the cost of running a car – has been made easier by digital platforms. Would it be called a rental service contract?

It becomes perfectly possible to earn your living principally as a taxi-driver, to do a bit extra on the side for Uber, to carry passengers on a private ride-sharing basis, and to rent out your car as a service.

Yet none of this is straightforward. What are the tax and social security implications and consequences of all these ‘new’ types of transaction? The case of Uber, whose social security, taxation and profit-making aspects are far from clear, has captured media attention. Yet the same questions arise in relation to Blablacar, a survey having shown that without it passengers would either have driven their own car or taken the train. Indirectly, this raises the question of public investment in collective transport; if the cost of using a car is reduced, relative price issues are affected.



Don't miss out on cutting-edge thinking.


Join tens of thousands of informed readers and stay ahead with our insightful content. It's free.



Similarly, the car owner who rents out his vehicle pays neither social security contributions nor taxes on the time required to clean the car and get it ready, to sign the contract, and so forth, whereas in a private car rental firm the workers paid to carry out these tasks pay taxes and social security contributions on their earnings.

The digital revolution brings us up against unprecedented situations applicable to categories of persons and workers about whom we know rather little. Who are the Uber drivers? Who are the people who rent out their cars or offer rides to paying passengers?

This diversification of the ‘one person-one car’ binome (duo) reflects a development that is also emerging in other areas where what used to be a matter of the part-time private use of an expensive item (car, apartment, tools, …) has become for the owner an asset lending itself to a range of income-generating uses and activities.

A host of questions thus arise as a result of these changes: questions about the ‘person/worker’, to which we have alluded, but also about the ‘platform/employer’, about the localisation of profits (and taxes), about monopoly and competition, about the financing of ‘local’ social models, about regional development, about individual and collective responsibilities, etc. These changes thus call for urgent overall reflection at the European level.

This contribution is part of our project on the future of work and the digital revolution.

Philippe Pochet
Philippe Pochet

Philippe Pochet,former general director of the European Trade Union Institute, is a fellow of the Green European Foundation and an affiliate professor at Sant’Anna College, Pisa.

Harvard University Press Advertisement

Social Europe Ad - Promoting European social policies

We need your help.

Support Social Europe for less than €5 per month and help keep our content freely accessible to everyone. Your support empowers independent publishing and drives the conversations that matter. Thank you very much!

Social Europe Membership

Click here to become a member

Most Recent Articles

u421983467e464b43d2 1 Why European Security and Sovereignty Depend on Its Digital SectorMariana Mazzucato
u42198346c3fba71fa474 0 As Temperatures Rise, European Workers Face a Looming ThreatMarouane Laabbas-el-Guennouni
u42198346741 4727 89fd 94e15c3ad1d4 3 Europe Must Prepare for Security Without AmericaAlmut Möller
6ybe7j6ybe Why Real Democracy Needs Conflict, Not ConsensusJustus Seuferle
u4219837 46fc 46e5 a3c1 4f548d13b084 2 Europe’s Bid for Autonomy: The Euro’s Evolving Global RoleGuido Montani

Most Popular Articles

u4219834647f 0894ae7ca865 3 Europe’s Businesses Face a Quiet Takeover as US Investors CapitaliseTej Gonza and Timothée Duverger
u4219834674930082ba55 0 Portugal’s Political Earthquake: Centrist Grip Crumbles, Right AscendsEmanuel Ferreira
u421983467e58be8 81f2 4326 80f2 d452cfe9031e 1 “The Universities Are the Enemy”: Why Europe Must Act NowBartosz Rydliński
u42198346761805ea24 2 Trump’s ‘Golden Era’ Fades as European Allies Face Harsh New RealityFerenc Németh and Peter Kreko
startupsgovernment e1744799195663 Governments Are Not StartupsMariana Mazzucato
u421986cbef 2549 4e0c b6c4 b5bb01362b52 0 American SuicideJoschka Fischer
u42198346769d6584 1580 41fe 8c7d 3b9398aa5ec5 1 Why Trump Keeps Winning: The Truth No One AdmitsBo Rothstein
u421983467 a350a084 b098 4970 9834 739dc11b73a5 1 America Is About to Become the Next BrexitJ Bradford DeLong
u4219834676ba1b3a2 b4e1 4c79 960b 6770c60533fa 1 The End of the ‘West’ and Europe’s FutureGuillaume Duval
u421983462e c2ec 4dd2 90a4 b9cfb6856465 1 The Transatlantic Alliance Is Dying—What Comes Next for Europe?Frank Hoffer

ETUI advertisement

HESA Magazine Cover

With a comprehensive set of relevant indicators, presented in 85 graphs and tables, the 2025 Benchmarking Working Europe report examines how EU policies can reconcile economic, social and environmental goals to ensure long-term competitiveness. Considered a key reference, this publication is an invaluable resource for supporting European social dialogue.

DOWNLOAD HERE

Eurofound advertisement

Ageing workforce
The evolution of working conditions in Europe

This episode of Eurofound Talks examines the evolving landscape of European working conditions, situated at the nexus of profound technological transformation.

Mary McCaughey speaks with Barbara Gerstenberger, Eurofound's Head of Unit for Working Life, who leverages insights from the 35-year history of the European Working Conditions Survey (EWCS).

Listen to the episode for free. Also make sure to subscribe to Eurofound Talks so you don’t miss an episode!

LISTEN NOW

Foundation for European Progressive Studies Advertisement

Spring Issues

The Spring issue of The Progressive Post is out!


Since President Trump’s inauguration, the US – hitherto the cornerstone of Western security – is destabilising the world order it helped to build. The US security umbrella is apparently closing on Europe, Ukraine finds itself less and less protected, and the traditional defender of free trade is now shutting the door to foreign goods, sending stock markets on a rollercoaster. How will the European Union respond to this dramatic landscape change? .


Among this issue’s highlights, we discuss European defence strategies, assess how the US president's recent announcements will impact international trade and explore the risks  and opportunities that algorithms pose for workers.


READ THE MAGAZINE

Hans Böckler Stiftung Advertisement

WSI Report

WSI Minimum Wage Report 2025

The trend towards significant nominal minimum wage increases is continuing this year. In view of falling inflation rates, this translates into a sizeable increase in purchasing power for minimum wage earners in most European countries. The background to this is the implementation of the European Minimum Wage Directive, which has led to a reorientation of minimum wage policy in many countries and is thus boosting the dynamics of minimum wages. Most EU countries are now following the reference values for adequate minimum wages enshrined in the directive, which are 60% of the median wage or 50 % of the average wage. However, for Germany, a structural increase is still necessary to make progress towards an adequate minimum wage.

DOWNLOAD HERE

S&D Group in the European Parliament advertisement

Cohesion Policy

S&D Position Paper on Cohesion Policy post-2027: a resilient future for European territorial equity

Cohesion Policy aims to promote harmonious development and reduce economic, social and territorial disparities between the regions of the Union, and the backwardness of the least favoured regions with a particular focus on rural areas, areas affected by industrial transition and regions suffering from severe and permanent natural or demographic handicaps, such as outermost regions, regions with very low population density, islands, cross-border and mountain regions.

READ THE FULL POSITION PAPER HERE

Social Europe

Our Mission

Team

Article Submission

Advertisements

Membership

Social Europe Archives

Themes Archive

Politics Archive

Economy Archive

Society Archive

Ecology Archive

Miscellaneous

RSS Feed

Legal Disclosure

Privacy Policy

Copyright

Social Europe ISSN 2628-7641