Glovo participates in the Spanish and European consultations for the regulation of the digital world
The increase in social, labour and socio economic interactions through the digital environment cannot be analysed as a separated trend from the offline world, as it is undoubtedly part of our reality. In this context, the Spanish Government has established the need to develop and complement regulations related with citizens rights on the online environment, as well as those related to work on digital platforms.
To this end, in June 2020 a public consultation was launched to prepare a ‘Charter of digital rights’, a new legislative framework that seeks to recognize a broader spectrum of rights necessary for the digital protection of all citizens. In turn, the Ministry of Labor opened a public consultation to adapt the Statute of Workers and the Law of autonomous work to certain aspects in the provision of services through digital platforms.
Together with all the organizations from the social and business world that represent the digital economy and other sectors, Glovo wanted to be part of both public consultation processes, providing reflections and proposals so that both the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Digital Transformation and the Ministry of Work could formulate balanced regulatory proposals.
In this sense, Glovo has transferred some ideas, arguments and proposals related to the digital economy and its challenges for society, with special attention to the way we can contribute as a company so that Spain has an adequate public framework for digital reality and our social and economic context.
Firstly, and regarding digital rights, it is vitally important for our company to incorporate alert mechanisms on the impact and ethical considerations of our activity. For this reason, we created an Ethics and Society Committee last year and we have been elaborating regulatory proposals to promote more transparency and improved users rights. In the consultation, we propose a series of measures that serve to this purpose, including: advancing transparency channels to explain our technology and operations, promoting a new framework of relations with couriers without distorting the benefits of the platform work, and enhancing our role with local commerce and restaurants with the aim to generate well-being in the ecosystem where we operate.
In relation to the regulation of work on digital platforms, the legal classification of ‘glovers’ poses a scenario of uncertainty that threatens the interaction and benefits that we generate for clients, distributors and associated businesses. Glovo’s proposal is intended to achieve legal certainty with greater benefits for platform workers. The aim is to establish a framework that takes into account the reality of those workers who choose to provide services in Glovo, giving them flexibility and more rights such as the right to freely determine the days and hours in which they will provide his work.
It is up to the Government, political parties, social organizations and civil society to dialogue and define how the digital economy and society will be like in Spain. This new context requires proactivity, analysis and political and regulatory innovation, and we, as a Spanish company, want to approach and propose flexible and upgradeable solutions according to the dynamism of the new digital economy.
On the other hand, the European Union has also launched a consultation on the Digital Services Act, the piece of legislation that will shape the future of digital companies such as Glovo; the way they operate in markets, governance, liability, labour relations and competition are topics the consultation touches upon. Here you can find Glovo’s participation.
