The Platform Workers Directive (PWD) was supposed to be a turning point in the so-called Gig Economy as millions of self-employed people who work through platforms across the bloc would be re-classified as employees and benefit from basic rights such as minimum salary, healthcare, accident insurance and paid leave. But after going through six rounds of negotiations between the European Parliament and member states, the directive was stopped dead in its tracks, right when it was about to reach the finish line. A meeting in late December, mere hours before Brussels grounded to a halt for the win…