Extending the St Prix Principle to Self-employed EU Workers

Abstract

1. This case note examines the important recent ruling of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) in Revenue and Customs Commissioners v Dakneviciute. This ruling held that Art. 49 of the TFEU, which prohibits restriction to the freedom of establishment, must be interpreted as meaning that ‘a woman who ceases self-employed activity in circumstances where there are physical constraints in the late stages of pregnancy and the aftermath of childbirth retains her self-employed status’. This ruling has wide-ranging ramifications with respect to the right to reside of self-employed female EU nationals who are pregnant or have newly born babies, which will be evaluated in this article.