ILS Lunch Seminar with Hanneke Bennaars and Prof. Frans Sonneveldt in hindsight
On Thursday 17 October 2019, the second ILS Lunch Seminar of this academic year took place. Hanneke Bennaars and Prof. Frans Sonneveldt gave two very insightful presentations.
Hanneke Bennaars gave the first presentation on “Platformwork: paradigm shift in labour law?” Nowadays, platforms such as Deliveroo and Uber are big and booming. However, the rise of these platforms also leads to various legal questions, such as in the area of labour law. Judges in the Netherlands have ruled differently on the status of these workers. In July last year, the District Court of Amsterdam ruled that they should be considered as independent workers (Rb. Amsterdam 23 juli 2018, ECLI:NL:RBAMS:2018:5183, FNV/Deliveroo). However, half a year later, the same court stated that these workers should be considered employees (Rb. Amsterdam 23 juli 2018, ECLI:NL:RBAMS:2018:5183, Werker/Deliveroo). In her presentation, Bennaars gave an overview of recent developments in this field and pointed out some pending research questions regarding platform work in a labour law context. Bennaars concluded that it seems like the traditional institutions are not designed for a gig-based labour market. As this goes forward, we could even be heading towards a reality where labour must be considered as a commodity.
The second presentation was given by Prof. Frans Sonneveldt on “The elimination of double taxation of estates, inheritances and gifts within and outside the European Union”. Within the EU, there is no harmonization of the relevant factors on which national estate (inheritance) taxes are based. This could lead to complicated situations in which fourfold taxation could take place, for example when a Dutch citizen who lived in Belgium with his Spanish wife had an estate in France. Sonneveldt has tried to solve this issue and was involved in discussions with members of the European Commission, which led to the Commission Recommendation regarding relief for double taxation of inheritances. In his presentation, he explained that in the recommendation, the location of the residence (situs) should be the main item when real estate taxation takes place. Next, the nationality of the deceased should be more important than the nationality of the heir. Last, the nationality of the heir should be considered as a relevant actor. The recommendation was taken into account in both the Netherlands and in Poland, which probably more EU Member States will follow.
The next ILS Lunch Seminar will take place on Thursday 28 November 2019, from 13:00 - 14:00 hrs in KOG A.028. This seminar will feature (at least) a presentation from Melanie Fink. There is no need to register and lunch is provided.
Would you like to present yourself and your research? Do not hesitate to contact our ILS student assistant! More information can be found on our website.