Cleaning for very little money: this is everyday life for many cleaners in Germany. They work at the limit. They always have too little time for too much space. The result: fatal hygiene deficiencies. In places like hospital operating theatres, this can be a real health hazard.

For years, abuses in the cleaning industry have been repeatedly criticized: What is unfortunate in schools or office buildings can have dramatic consequences in hospitals.

The EU is promoting AI-based technologies for the migration process. These analyse biometric data or control swarms of drones. What is the potential of these technologies and what dangers do they harbour?

The EU-funded iBorderCtrl project aims to improve and speed up border control with the help of artificial intelligence. However, the technology also raises many questions.

To cope with a widespread shortage of doctors in Europe, member countries are competing to recruit foreign graduates. While Germany facilitates their integration, France keeps them in a precarious position.

Underpaid, overworked and invisible — experts say that fishers in the EU are being abandoned in an industry with a lack of oversight. The EU fishing industry increasingly relies on migrant labour due to an ageing workforce and declining work conditions, making it less attractive for EU nationals. But the recent deal on the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD) could provide a way to improve the conditions for fishers working in the industry in Europe. 

Algorithms dictate gig workers’ lives: their schedules, income and even their privacy — prompting the EU to regulate these automated management processes for the first time.  However, the impact of new rules on the daily routine of gig workers remains to be seen.

The recently adopted EU directive to improve the working conditions of platform workers was significantly weakened because of the intimate relationship between Estonia and Bolt, one of Europe’s leading ride-hailing companies.An investigation by EUobserver into several documents, a series of emails and phone call records reveals the influence of Estonia-headquartered Bolt in many key sections of the Platform Work Directive.

France struggled to orchestrate the rewriting of the European directive that was supposed to strengthen the rights of platform workers, adopted on 11 March. At the heart of the EU-27 institutions, officials recount France's fight behind-the-scenes.