You are a worker or a self-employed person under EU law

We always make a specific assessment of all the information in your case about your employment when we assess whether you may be considered a worker under EU law. According to jurisprudence of the Court of Justice of the European Union, the decisive point of whether a person may be considered a worker under EU law is that, for a certain period of time, the person performs services for and under the direction of another person in return for which s/he receives remuneration (salary). At the same time, it is crucial that the employment is genuine and effective and not what EU law refers to as marginal and ancillary. 

As a general rule, we expect that you as a minimum work 10 – 12 hours a week. Since the decisive point according to case law of the Court of Justice of the European Union is that the employment has lasted for a certain period of time, we also expect that you, as a starting point, have employment to this extent every week for a continuous period of 10 weeks.. 

In our assessment we also include criteria such as whether you are entitled to paid holiday, remuneration during illness, the duration of the employment relationship and whether a collective agreement applies to the employment. Furthermore, in our assessment we also put emphasis on whether you have a gross income of a certain size every month. The general price and wage development in Denmark means that wages are continuously increasing. We take this into account when assessing whether you may be considered a worker under EU-law.

When we assess whether you may be considered a worker, we look at the documents you attach along with the application for equal status for foreign citizens. The documentation of your employment is among other things an employment contract and payslips from your employer in Denmark. After having applied for SU in minSU, you must complete the application for equal status for foreign citizens applying for equal status with Danish citizens. You can access the application for equal status by clicking on the receipt page you get when you have applied for SU in minSU.

When you receive SU because you may be considered a worker, as described in the above, you are, as a starting point, required continuously to work a minimum of 10 – 12 hours each week while you study and receive SU.

We always conduct a specific assessment of your business when we assess whether you can be considered a self-employed person in Denmark according to EU law. In our assessment, it is a necessary condition that your business is fully established and operational in Denmark. This means that you must be able to document that the business is financially active entailing that it participates in the economic life in Denmark in a stable and continuous way.

In the assessment of whether you can be considered a self-employed person according to EU law, we expect that:

• you run a business for your own account and risk
• you run a business of financial nature and with the purpose of earning a profit
• you run the business in a professional manner
• you have established and run your business in Denmark
• you, as the owner or co-owner, are the person who runs the business on a daily basis
• the business’ financial activities are performed on a fairly regular basis and for a not entirely short period
• the financial activities in the business are not of an insignificant extent

In the assessment, we therefore put emphasis on the fact that:

• you have registered the business with the Danish authorities (in the Central Business Register, CVR)
• you have devised an expected budget for the next 12 months as well as devised annual accounts for your business (preferably from an auditor) 
• you have documented that your business will be profitable or that you have made it plausible that your business will be profitable over time by, for example, being able to present a business plan, a market survey or the like
• you can present documentation showing that you have received payment for the services/goods you sell
• you have the professional qualifications to run the business and that there is a connection between the business’ activities
• you run the business from a permanent establishment

In order to document that you have established yourself as a self-employed person as defined in EU law, you can attach copies of your business’ financial statements or a budget of first operating year, a business plan, invoices made out to customers, documentation of your business expenses, VAT payments, rental agreement of office, expenditure on wages and salaries to employees, as well as contracts you have made with business partners. After having applied for SU in minSU, you must complete the application for equal status for foreign citizens applying for equal status with Danish citizens. You can access the application for equal status by clicking on the receipt page you get when you have applied for SU in minSU.

Please be aware that it may have tax consequences for you if you as a foreign student choose to set up your own business in Denmark. For questions regarding these consequences, please contact the Danish Customs and Tax Administration.

If you are a worker, we can ask you to submit documentary evidence showing that you have had effective and genuine work to a minimum of 10-12 hours a week. This documentation can among other things be pay slips, a new employment contract, time sheets and/or duty rosters, documentation for holiday and so on.

If you are a self-employed person, we can ask you to submit documentary evidence showing that there are still economic activities in your business. The documentation can be copies of financial statements, tax assessment notice from the Danish Tax Agency (Skattestyrelsen), invoices made out to customers, documentation of your business expenses, business account statements, VAT payments, rental agreement of office lease, expenditure on wages and salaries to employees, information about inventory as well client agreements.