Question to the Department for Exiting the European Union :

To ask Her Majesty's Government what is the definition of "economic activity" for the purposes of article 9 of the draft agreement on the withdrawal of the UK from the EU.

Article 9(a)(b) of the draft Withdrawal Agreement provides a definition of ‘frontier workers.’ “Frontier workers” are persons who pursue an economic activity in accordance with the provisions set out in Article 45 or 49 TFEU (Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union) in one or more States in which they do not reside.

Economic activity is activity provided for remuneration. For the purposes of Article 9, economic activity must be in accordance with the provisions set out in Articles 45 or 49 TFEU.

To be exercising an economic activity as a worker in accordance with Article 45 TFEU a person must be a ‘genuine and effective’ worker and the work must not be on such a small scale so as to be ‘purely marginal or ancillary’

Article 49 TFEU provides for the freedom of establishment. A person is established in a particular state if they are participating ‘on a stable and continuous basis’ in the economic life of that State. If a person is providing temporary services they will not fall within the definition in Article 9(a)(b).