Self-employment

The state of working for oneself rather than an employer. A self-employed person is ‘pursuing a gainful activity for their own account, under the conditions laid down by national law'. As indicated by the European Commission in 2010, there are different understandings and definitions of the term self-employment across Member States.

[Directive 2010/41/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 7 July 2010 on the application of the principle of equal treatment between men and women engaged in an activity in a self-employed capacity and repealing Council Directive 86/613/EEC]

[Opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee on 'Abuse of the status of self-employed' (own-initiative opinion) eur-lex.europa.eu. June 6, 2013]