Why is this conversation important?
The Gig economy and the freelance movement have been billed as bringing much-needed disruption to the labour markets across Europe, as well as giving more choice and control to individuals.
Let’s look at some facts first: out of all SMEs, 93,1% are Micro Businesses, 60% of which are OPCs (One Person Companies). Also, in 2021, 13% of employed people aged between 20-64 years in the EU were self-employed. Hence, the OPCs and the self-employed represent over 20% of employment in Europe.
The trend has been fueled by the pandemic and the rise of remote work. At the same time, due to COVID-19, the self-employed and OPCs in particular have been disproportionately economically affected. When it comes to helping them, there is not enough exchange with their representatives at EU level, in addition to lack of suitable contact points.
With this summit, under the patronage of Angelika Winzig MEP and Maria Grapini MEP, we are going to focus on how can entrepreneurship be better promoted (with emphasis on the self-employed and OPCs). Moreover, we will discuss the impact of the coming critical months on entrepreneurs, digitization, and future of work, as well as look at the "classic" branch of retailing.
