C.3. Using business registers to identify potential mode 4 self-employed service suppliers
5.29. In some countries, foreign individuals must register with a supervision office. All new entries and changes are recorded and could eventually be published nationally. This means that potential mode 4 persons could be observed, if that information feeds the business register, and subsequently be linked to the trade in services variable. Therefore, the demographics of businesses, including in relation to mode 4, can be derived.
5.30. In countries in which compilers have direct access to the business register, or can link their own BOP register with the business register, the self-employed category could be accessible. For example, in the European Union, very small enterprises are usually included in the business registers. Therefore, it is recommended that this legal type (that is, physical persons acting on the basis of small business authorization) and size class (microenterprises) be used as a first indication of potential mode 4 self-employed persons.
5.31. Chapter 7 of the Eurostat Business Register Recommendations Manual stipulates which legal units must be recorded in business registers in European Union member states, while chapter 8 provides relevant information for mode of supply: external sourcing of ancillary services, in section 8.D, and activities of workers under exclusive contracts, in section 8.E, which states that “[t]here are many activities that involve the services of workers under exclusive contracts: commercial representatives, travelling salesmen, insurance agents. Such workers may or may not be treated as employees of the enterprise, depending on the nature of the contract binding them to the enterprise”. Therefore, for countries interested in the self-employed under mode 4, it is advised to take into account the experience of the European Union and to incorporate similar information in their registers to enable compilation of the supply of services by mode 4 persons.