Auto-entrepreneurs for the EU
On January 1st 2009, France launched the simplified auto-entrepreneur scheme to make it easier to launch a small business. The turnover ceiling for tax allowance will likely be doubled during the five-year mandate of Emmanuel Macron.
Most European countries have put in place special schemes for entrepreneurs, but none has managed to combine the simplicity and efficiency of the new French system.
In the context of high youth unemployment and more automous working methods, a new EU-wide status for auto-entrepreneurs would fit well with the original spirit of the European project for which Robert Schuman wanted « concrete achievements ».
The French auto-entrepreneur status is a big success. Generalizing it at the EU level would spread its benefits and make a concrete contribution to the European project.
To implement this reform, our report explains the different options ahead, from the exchange of good practices to a common taxation strategy, as well as a new EU directive on a legal and tax regime of the auto-entrepreneur.
By extrapolating from the French data already available, we estimate that it can lead to the creation of more than 5 million new jobs on a European scale.
