With the EU referendum drawing near, we continue to quiz our expert panel with small business’ questions on Brexit. This week they discuss the plight of the self-employed in the event of an out vote:
I’m a self-employed UK citizen but I would like to move to another EU country to freelance – how might Brexit affect me doing that?
If you have a question about the impact of the EU referendum, you can submit it here.
Sebastian Dullien
Senior policy fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations and professor of international economics at HTW Berlin, University of Applied Sciences.
As with so many questions concerning Brexit, the exact answer depends on what kind of deal the British government would negotiate with the rest of the EU after leaving the union.
If Britain would secure a deal similar to that of Switzerland, then potentially not much would change for self-employed who want to move to the EU. As Swiss citizens are allowed today to start working on a self-employed basis in the EU, so would British citizens.
The agreement with Switzerland includes a symmetric freedom of movement of both workers and self-employed between the EU and Switzerland. Not only can the Swiss work in other EU member states, EU citizens can also settle and work in Switzerland. It is not yet clear whether Britain would seek such an agreement after leaving the EU.
At least some of those campaigning for Brexit emphasise the potential to limit the mobility of workers between the EU and Britain. If this became the British stance in the negotiations for a post-Brexit partnership with the EU, it is difficult to imagine that the EU will grant British workers (and British self-employed people) full access to the single market while the immigration of EU citizens to the UK is limited.
The EU made it very clear after the Swiss referendum calling for a limit to immigration from the EU that such an asymmetric move would not be acceptable. There is no reason why Britain should be treated more favourably than Switzerland here.
Hence, if Britain wants to limit migration into the UK after a vote for Brexit, self-employed Britons will have a much harder time moving to one of the remaining EU countries as well.
Simon McVicker
Director of policy and external affairs at IPSE. He is also a board member of EFIP, the European Forum of Independent Professionals, which represents the self-employed at EU level through targeted research and advocacy.
Britain’s membership of the EU means UK citizens are entitled to freelance in any of the 27 other member states. Each country has its own rules on self-employment for non-EU citizens, and while each is different, most require a work permit in order to freelance there. In both France and Germany, for example, potential non-EU freelancers need to prove that their business will benefit those countries. The freelancer also has to prove they can finance the business entirely by themselves (by means of a bank statement with a significant number of zeros). However, if you can satisfy these requirements, there can be “fast-track” systems of sorts, which can be completed online.
If freelancers plan to use a UK bank account, Brexit could make getting paid more complicated. Being able to move capital freely – one of the four central tenets of the EU – may become more difficult in the event of an out vote. Social security agreements between the UK and EU states are unlikely to change significantly, although the European Health Insurance Card (EHIC) is one obvious concern.
Of course, the UK will seek to make agreements with all of the remaining member states to help resolve these issues. But this would take a significant amount of time to achieve, and nothing is for certain. Brexit would also mean that control over employment law, for example, will be returned to the UK – perhaps making it more attractive to set up a business here instead.
Philip Landau
Founder member of Landau Law, which are specialist London-based employment law solicitors. He writes regularly for the Guardian on topical employment law matters, including how European judgments impact the UK. He advises daily on employment law matters, most of which derive from Europe.
As a European Union citizen, you have the right to work in any other EU country on a self-employed basis. A vote for Brexit could have serious implications for freelancers. Unless there are reciprocal arrangements in place, you are likely to need to show your proposed business has a beneficial economic impact, and have proof that the operation can be fully covered by your own resources or bank loan. You may also need to show how your business will impact on employment and vocational training, together with how it could contribute to the national or regional economy.
As a self-employed person, you will almost certainly also need to apply for a special residence permit. It is likely this would only be valid for a short period of time before needing to be renewed.
Panos Koutrakos
Professor of EU law and Jean Monnet professor of EU law at City University London and a barrister at Monckton Chambers. He has written widely on various aspects of EU law, including trade, international treaties and foreign affairs. He has given evidence at the House of Commons foreign affairs select committee on the costs and benefits of EU membership for the UK.
As an EU citizen, you have the right to move with your family to another EU country, live and work there and enjoy equal treatment with the nationals of that country.
There are also rules about the recognition of your professional qualifications. These rights are enforceable before the courts of that EU country. These rights are part and parcel of EU membership. You may exercise them anywhere in the EU as self-employed persons from other EU countries may also exercise them in the UK.
In the case of Brexit, these rights would depend on the agreement that the UK reaches with the EU. If, for instance, the UK joined the European Economic Area (like Norway), you would still have these rights. If, on the other hand, no such arrangement was made, you would lose these rights. Instead, you would need to comply with any immigration and other rules that EU countries have for non-EU citizens.
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