MEPs vote in favor of a single statute for self-employed workers

MEPs voted on Monday in favor of a single statute for some three million self-employed workers, providing in particular for the protection of their personal assets in the event of a hard blow.

These provisions appear in article 1 of the bill "

", examined at first reading at the Palais Bourbon after a passage in the Senate last October.

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Individual entrepreneurs would thus be holders of two assets, one professional, the other personal which would be elusive in the event of default, whereas today only the main residence is protected.

The reform, which derogates from the legal principle of the uniqueness of heritage, aims to meet a long-standing demand from these workers - artisans, traders, liberal professionals ...-.

Senate modifications aimed at clarifying the legal demarcation of the two heritages and reducing the exemptions were rejected in committee.

This point was debated again on Monday, with right and left expressing concerns in particular about the possibility for creditors, in particular banks, to circumvent the protection offered by the new statute.

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Amendments by Jean-Paul Mattei (MoDem) were, however, adopted in session to provide more guarantees on this subject, in particular by further framing a possible waiver of the protection of personal assets.

The rest of the text should be examined in the evening.

The executive is aiming for final adoption during the current legislature, for implementation of the new law this year.

"The cornerstone

"

The text constitutes "

" of the plan in favor of self-employed workers announced by Emmanuel Macron on September 16, underlined the Minister in charge of SMEs, Jean-Baptiste Lemoyne.

The Minister underlined the “

” nature of this sector, with 840,000 business creations in 2020, or 4% more than in 2019, and more than 900,000 from January to November 2021.

But we must “

” to respond to the risks inherent in self-employment, aggravated by the uncertainties linked to the health crisis, he said. He underlines.

The project also provides for extended conditions of access to the allowance for self-employed workers (ATI) in order to open unemployment insurance to the self-employed.

It also facilitates the transfer of the business and simplifies the financing of vocational training.

Read also Self-employed workers: the Senate examines a text to protect personal heritage

Jean-Baptiste Lemoyne like the project rapporteurs underlined that this project does not “

” from which farmers benefit, in the face of many concerns expressed by the oppositions in the hemicycle.