Ride-hailing giant Uber said Friday that it would appeal a fresh legal setback in Europe after a French court ruled a former driver who sued the firm effectively had a work contract, potentially undermining a pillar of the US group's business model. The driver's lawyer Fabien Masson hailed the appeals court ruling as a "landmark decision," though it was unlikely to force Uber to recognise its French drivers as fully fledged employees anytime soon.

Uber has long argued that it merely a service provider with drivers who are self-employed, able to work when and where they want.

That strategy has drawn a flood of private drivers who now operate alongside established taxi services worldwide, which often bristle at what they consider unfair competition.

"We're going to appeal this decision" to France's top Court of Cassation, an Uber spokeswoman told AFP on Friday, insisting on the need to maintain "flexibility" with its drivers.

"Drivers choose to use the Uber application for the freedom to connect to it when they want," she added.

But the Paris appeals court said the "registration partnership" Uber agreed with the driver who sued in 2017 effectively gave it "control" over the terms of his work.

It found, for example, that the driver could not freely choose clients or set his own rates.

As a result the court sent the case back to a specialised employment tribunal, though first the Court of Cassation must render its ruling.

Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2019