Asset protection, unemployment insurance… The French President has unveiled an arsenal of support measures.

Entrepreneurs, craftsmen, shopkeepers, self-employed professionals… France now boasts over 3 million self-employed workers, who sometimes face obstacles when they decide to set up their own business. The health crisis has also increased their exposure to the economic risks associated with their professional activities.

That’s why, at the Rencontres de l’Union des entreprises de proximité (U2P) at the Maison de la mutualité, the French President announced a support plan for the self-employed. Structured around 5 axes, the plan includes some twenty measures, which will be applicable from 2022:

1 – Create a single, protective status for sole proprietors and facilitate the transition from sole proprietorship to company;
2 – Improve and simplify social protection for the self-employed;
3 – Facilitate retraining and retraining for the self-employed;
4 – Encourage the transfer of businesses and know-how;
5 – Simplify the legal environment for the self-employed and their access to information.

Here is a brief summary of the measures most eagerly awaited by independents:

Protecting personal assets
The first axis refers to the status of the self-employed and the protection of their personal assets in the event of insolvency. Today, all the assets of the self-employed can be seized, with the exception of their main residence (since the Macron law of 2015). Tomorrow, only those items essential to the exercise of their activity will be seized, without any prior formality.

The head of state also aims to improve social protection for the self-employed. According to government figures, only 45,000 self-employed people are covered by the optional occupational injury and disease scheme.

To encourage them to sign up, the cost of contributions will be reduced by 30%. Urssaf procedures will also be simplified: contributions will be calculated and paid in real time – an important step forward, given the wide variations in their income.

Simplified access to unemployment insurance

Another focus:

The conditions for opening unemployment insurance to the self-employed will be eased. This safety net, a campaign promise by Emmanuel Macron, saw the light of day in 2019. However, only a thousand people benefited from it when the executive was aiming for 30,000 a year.

They are therefore being reviewed. Up to here, for benefit, it had to justify activity during less than two years with income of 10,000 euros per year and make the object recovery or judicial liquidation. These latter requirements no longer apply.

Entrepreneurs who decide to close down their business will be entitled to an allowance of 800 euros per month for six months if they can demonstrate sales of 10,000 euros over one year.

To encourage the transfer of their business, the tax rate for those taking over a business, for example, will be reduced for the ten years following the takeover. Finally, to simplify all their procedures, a single website will be launched by the end of the year.

Find out more about the Self-Employed Plan in PDF format: https://urlz.fr/guKg

Sources : https://www.gouvernement.fr/plan-independants-20-nouvelles-mesures-de-soutien | https://lexpansion.lexpress.fr/actualite-economique/travailleurs-independants-ce-qu-il-faut-retenir-du-plan-devoile-par-emmanuel-macron_2158549.html