Regulating Algorithmic Management: Why it is important for EU membership candidate countries in the Western Balkans
By Inva Koçiaj Çela, PhD Candidate, Digital Labour Platforms Gig Economy Fakulteti i Drejtesise — FDUT and Lecturer at University of Tirana, Faculty of Social Sciences
This blog is produced as a part of the Reshaping Work Fellowship Programme. The opinions and views expressed in this publication are those of the author. They do not purport to reflect the opinions or views of Reshaping Work or organisations that have supported the programme.
“While Brussels is setting new rules to ensure transparency in AI-driven management, in Tirana, Skopje, and Belgrade, thousands of young workers remain in the dark about how algorithms control their daily work.”
The European Union’s new Platform Directive (EU) 2024/2831 requires platforms to explain how algorithms work, how they allocate tasks, evaluate performance, and even terminate contracts. In EU membership candidate countries, such as Albania, North Macedonia, Serbia, and Montenegro, which are located across the Western Balkans, these same systems continue to operate without oversight, shaping livelihoods in ways that are invisible, unaccountable, and often unfair. Every year, I ask my students what digital labour platforms are, and unfortunately, they don’t have any answer to give me. Every time I order food from Wolt or Foodini, I ask the delivery person if they know anything about digital platforms or have heard about them, and they all give me the same answer: they have no idea about digital platforms. They are not aware that they are called digital platform workers and that they are not necessarily categorized as self-employed but rather employees.
In the meantime, digital labour platforms have grown rapidly in Southeast Europe; however, without any official evidence or data, the worst-case scenario is that they remain legally unregulated. The most developed platforms are food delivery, ride-hailing, and online freelancing, which provide income opportunities for thousands of students and young professionals who face high youth unemployment rates. At first glance, platforms seem to offer flexibility and quick access to work. But behind the interface lies a complex system of algorithmic management apps that decide when and where platform workers can log in, how tasks are distributed, and which performance metrics matter most for each of them. For many, this means working under conditions of constant surveillance and uncertainty. A late delivery or a low customer rating may reduce a worker’s chance of receiving future orders. In some cases, accounts are suspended without explanation, leaving workers with no recourse. In the absence of clear rules, the algorithm becomes not just a tool for management, but the manager itself.
For these reasons, the EU adopted Directive 2024/2831 on improving working conditions in platform work. For the first time, the Directive directly addresses algorithmic management. It focuses on two elements to regulate algorithmic management: firstly, it measures to increase the transparency of algorithmic management, and secondly, it brings awareness of the existence of human oversight in decision-making. Workers must be informed about how algorithms monitor, evaluate, and make decisions affecting them. Automated decisions with significant consequences, such as dismissal or pay reduction, cannot be taken without human review. Personal data must not be misused for purposes beyond what is necessary for the job. Another important legal provision is that workers’ representatives and unions must have access to relevant information about algorithmic systems to ensure accountability. This legal framework does not ban algorithmic management, but makes it fairer and more transparent. In doing so, it acknowledges that algorithms are not neutral; they involve managerial choices and have social consequences.
Why is this Directive important for the Western Balkan countries?
For the Western Balkan countries, aligning with EU law is part of the accession process. Yet, labour law reforms in EU membership candidate countries have so far focused more on traditional employment contracts than on new forms of digital work. This leaves a regulatory vacuum where platform workers remain largely invisible in national legislation. Albania, North Macedonia, and Serbia have all experienced a rapid rise in digital labour platforms, but none have a comprehensive law addressing algorithmic management. What does this mean in practice? In practice, this means that a delivery rider in Skopje or Tirana may face sudden “deactivation” from an application without any explanation, while a delivery rider in France or Barcelona now has the right to human oversight. Such inequalities deepen the sense of exclusion from the European social model that candidate countries aspire to join.
What can the Western Balkans do now about algorithmic management?
It is simple, they have to learn from EU member countries and take urgent measures; they must be ready in the “acquis communautaire” process to implement the EU Directive 2024/2831 on regulating digital labour platforms. As algorithms increasingly shape access to work, pay, and career prospects, the divide between regulated and unregulated environments will become sharper. The EU has chosen a path that recognizes both the potential and the danger of algorithmic management. EU membership candidate countries now face a decision: remain passive recipients of an opaque digital management system or take the initiative to align with emerging European standards. The first step is very clear: platform work must be legally recognized in national labour law, moving it out of the current grey zone. Only then can transparency rules, human oversight, and worker protections be meaningfully enforced. Regulation is not simply a bureaucratic requirement for EU accession, but it is a matter of fairness, dignity, and trust in the digital economy.