Public measures to support self-employment and job creation in one-person and micro enterprises

Self-employment and job creation is a key policy area in Europe and is considered to be an important element in fostering economic growth and employment. The financial and economic crisis has had a negative impact on self-employment andconsequently policy focus has been directed at fostering job creation in this area. The aim of this study, based on research carried out by national correspondents across the European Union, is to identify what measures of support are available for those who want to create one-person and micro enterprises. The study finds that policies to aid entrepreneurship and thus help create jobs already existed before the economic and financial crisis and have received only slightly more focus due to the crisis. In general, instruments to aid self-employment are not new, but have been given higher priority because of the crisis.