§ Sir Anthony Meyerasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what is the estimated number of self-employed in each member State of the European Community who will be affected by and may potentially benefit from the agreement reached by the Council of Social Affairs Ministers in November 1980 on the extension of reciprocal health benefits to the self-employed.
§ Mrs. ChalkerThe best information available to me indicates that in 1977 the number of
employers, self-employed and family workers"*in each of the countries of the European Community was as follows:
72W
Number Belgium 620,000 Denmark 424,000 France 3,681,000 Germany 3,697,000 Greece data not available Ireland 291,000 Italy 5,702,000
Number Luxembourg 21,000 Netherlands 664,000 United Kingdom 1,886,000 Although some of these are already covered by the existing Community regulations dealing with health benefits for workers and their families, the agreement to extend the regulations means that, without exception, all United Kingdom nationals who are self-employed will be covered, as will their dependants. This cover will extend beyond health benefits to other matters such as pensions.
*As defined for the purposes of the European Statistical Office's publication—"Labour Force: Basic Statistics of the Community".