madam president firstly i would like to congratulate ms lulling on this report she made a valiant effort
when i first heard of this report i wondered how it would work logistically
the aim of the report is admirable and supports the principle of equal treatment for self-employed women and men workers and their spouses
but then i thought how this report would be greeted by for example a self-employed sole trader such as a plumber or an electrician
for argument's sake let us say his wife would be helping him in the evenings with the paperwork and answering the phone from home
how does the report fit in here
would he be expected to pay social contributions to cover his spouse thus enabling her to qualify for maternity leave if needed
could this sole trader who in today's economic climate is struggling afford to pay this indirect tax and indeed would he and his wife want this extra burden
if they didn t see it as a benefit would they just not pay the contributions after all no one really knows she is helping her husband and is this not what married people do help each other
then i took this scenario a step further a few years down the line they get divorced as happens often enough what happens then
this poor guy will be skinned in the courts by his wife for not paying the contributions
interesting times and an interesting side-effect to our report
the number of self-employed workers in the united kingdom has risen to one point seven million
one reason for this rise is that employment opportunities are fewer these days so people look towards starting their own work
should the state not in these circumstances support their effort
i have studied ms lulling's amendments and feel that she has made a valiant effort to improve what was originally a heavy-handed report on self-employment
however i am still concerned about legislation in matters of employment being made in brussels
i believe that this work is best left to national governments who are best geared to evaluate the needs of their citizens as indeed the report says
i support ms lulling's recommendations that the national systems should recognise the importance of protecting self-employed workers and we should stand against all forms of discrimination but i am still not convinced that this house is best placed to work on employment matters
