European Freelancers’ Movement delivers Manifesto for better contractor support

As many as 7,000 contractors in 29 European countries have joined the European Freelancers’ Movement campaign, calling for improvements in policies that affect those who are self-employed.

Last week, the European Freelancers’ Movement sent representatives to the European Parliament to hand over supporters’ signatures and to deliver a Manifesto expressing the need for a strong voice to represent and support independent workers.

The campaign is an initiative of the European Forum of Independent Professionals (EFIP), a partnership of national associations from across Europe, of which IPSE is a founding member.  According to the IPSE, the campaign was crowdfunded with donations from hundreds of individuals.

The Manifesto calls for:

• EU authorities to recognise the legal status and rights of freelancers.
• Once recognised, independent workers must be given access to business support services, public procurement contracts, training programmes and funding, from which they are often excluded.
• Better statistics about self-employment, as official data about contractors can be unreliable and often mixed with SMEs.
• Businesses to be targeted so that they treat contractors fairly, with better contracts and conditions.

Liberal Democrat MEP Catherine Bearder, who received the Manifesto at the European Parliament, commented, “Too often, the concerns of self-employed and freelance workers in Europe are not taken into account when important decisions are made.

“I am calling on the European Commission and national governments to make sure that self-employed workers are properly consulted and are able to fully participate in the relevant EU programmes and funding streams. Liberals believe that the role of government is to empower individuals and allow them to fulfil their potential. This should be one of the core principles driving the work of the new Commission.”

If you have any further questions about contracting, or would like to book a free face to face meeting with a member of our New business team, please call 01442 275789 or email newbusiness@sjdaccountancy.com.

For all other news please visit our Contractor News hub, or why not join us on Facebook  and follow us on Google+  for all the latest contractor news, views, debates and competitions.