(Does EU competition law apply to Uber drivers? (since competition law only applies to undertakings

Abstract

Technology has continued to evolve and significantly improve people's lives. It has made many aspects of life easier, including transportation. Moreover, the significant development of digital platforms has created many flexible business opportunities, such as the rideshare platform, Uber, which is a well-known company. It has made it easy for people to navigate to multiple places and has created a source of income for many of its contract drivers. However, the classification of Uber drivers has been recently brought into question under European Union (EU) competition law regarding whether competition law applies to Uber drivers. This paper aims to analyse whether competition law applies to Uber drivers. It will assess Uber drivers’ classification under competition law and examine the role of competition law in classifying Uber drivers. Then, it will investigate the applicability of the employment relationship between Uber and its drivers and critically analyse the commercial agent relationship between Uber and its drivers. Finally, this paper will conclude that drivers are likely to be independent undertakings.