EU plan for Deliveroo and JustEat workers welcomed by Irish unions but criticised for threat to jobs

European Commission said draft rules could apply to up to 5.5m workers out of the 28m working at online platform companies in the EU. 

An EU proposal that could regulate up to 5.5m people working in the gig economy in delivering food takeaways and parcels has been welcomed as providing a level-playing field by the Irish trades unions but criticised by some companies as likely to cost jobs.

The draft plan unveiled by Social Rights Commissioner Nicholas Schmit on Thursday aims to give self-employed workers for delivery riders working for online platforms such as Deliveroo, Just Eat, and Uber on the same level as employees.