As automation reshapes work, more people are pushed into self-employment — yet Luxembourg’s social protection system hasn’t moved in 50 years. Clara Moraru, President of Union des Indépendants asbl, says that has to change.
25% contributions, 77 days without income if sick. Why has Luxembourg let this go on so long?
The social security system was designed for employees and never properly redesigned when self-employed workers were added later. A freelance coach working under his own name pays both the employee and employer share: roughly 25% of income, alone. Then falls sick, cannot work, waits 77 days for any allowance, while still expected to pay contributions. To get better protection, he must buy additional insurance for something he already funds. How is that fair? France: 3 days. Belgium: 8. Portugal: 10. Germany: 43. Luxembourg: 77. Our demand is simple: reduce that waiting period to 8 days. The political will is the only thing missing.
“France: 3 days. Belgium: 8. Portugal: 10. Germany: 43. Luxembourg: 77. The political will is the only thing missing.”
Clara Moraru, President of Union des Indépendants asbl
One third start out of necessity. Is Luxembourg’s startup image just an image?
The 2025–2026 GEM report shows that in Luxembourg, one third of new entrepreneurs start because they lack adequate traditional employment alternatives, not by choice. Yet I am regularly challenged by people in media and politics who continue to believe that being self-employed is a choice for everyone. The startup narrative is indeed real for some. But for migrants, career changers, people over 50, or people with disabilities, going independent was often the only viable professional path. THis masks a labour market that excludes rather than empowers.
The government’s 2025 action plan introduced new tax incentives and incubator support. But it targets deep-tech and venture-capital-backed firms. It does not touch the reality of the freelance translator, the independent coach, the migrant shop owner building a client base from scratch. Those people are not the face of the “startup nation” narrative, however, they are the majority of the self-employed workforce. That gap between image and reality is precisely what we are asking politicians to address.
AI is pushing more people into self-employment. Is the system ready, or are we heading for invisible precarity?
The economy is changing fast. AI and automation are dissolving stable traditional employment and pushing people toward self-employment — often involuntarily. But our social security system, built 50 years ago for salaried workers, has not changed. Self-employed people have no short-time work equivalent, no real illness coverage, no unemployment buffer. Research confirms that forced self-employment generates significantly higher precariousness and lower wellbeing. And the number of people pushed into self-employment will only grow, while the protections remain absent.
The EU Council Conclusions on social protection for the self-employed, adopted in October 2023, explicitly called on member states to ensure adequate, transparent, and contributory social protection. Luxembourg endorsed that direction. We are still waiting for it to translate into law.
“Luxembourg will increasingly retain only large corporate entrepreneurship, fintech, fund management, while losing the ecosystem of independent professionals, coaches, designers, shop owners and educators who give a society its texture and resilience.”
Clara Moraru, President of Union des Indépendants asbl
Dead last — 53rd out of 53 — on market entry dynamics. What does that mean practically?
The market dynamics score reflects what actually happens when a new entrant tries to compete: can they access clients? Can they reach the public sector? Are procurement rules structured to allow small players in?
In Luxembourg’s case, it means the door is open on paper and closed in practice. A score of 3.1 out of 10, the lowest of all 53 GEM economies, reflects a market where new entrants struggle to access public clients. Public procurement is conducted in French and German, creating a structural exclusion mechanism for many solo entrepreneurs, especially migrants, who represent the majority of new entrepreneurs here. Programmes like Fit4Digital are largely inaccessible to self-employed workers without a company structure. Luxembourg’s NECI score has dropped from 5.0 in 2022 to 4.4 in 2026, sliding from 20th to 30th place globally. In four years, the entrepreneurial environment here has measurably deteriorated. This trend must not be ignored.
You’re calling for a ‘serious political process.’ What does success look like by end of 2026 — and what happens if nothing moves?
“Serious political process” certainly does not mean a working group that produces a report in 2028. That has happened before. Success means a legislative commitment this year, on at least three urgent points: the 77-day waiting period reduced to 8 days; guaranteed income continuity in case of illness; and a force majeure income-replacement mechanism at 80% of declared income. These are not revolutionary demands, they already exist in other EU countries.
If nothing moves, the human cost is burnout, exit, and brain drain. Several of our members have already left Luxembourg. On the economic side, Luxembourg will increasingly retain only large corporate entrepreneurship, fintech, fund management, while losing the ecosystem of independent professionals, coaches, designers, shop owners and educators who give a society its texture and resilience. We represent almost 30.000 people who pay into a system that barely protects them. That cannot continue indefinitely.
