International Regulation of Self-Employment in the EAEU: Opportunities and Limitations

This article explores the possibilities and constraints of self-employment among labor migrants from EAEU member states in the common labor market. The study examines the economic and legal nature of self-employment, identifies the institutional features of its development in an integrated market, and analyzes national approaches to its regulation across the EAEU. A comparative framework is applied to distinguish self-employment from both entrepreneurship and wage labor. The analysis draws on the historical and comparative legal methods to study institutions of self-employment, while deduction, synthesis, and the formal legal method are used to assess the legal status of the self-employed in the EAEU labor market. Statistical methods are employed to evaluate migration dynamics. The findings demonstrate that EAEU countries have adopted distinct approaches to formalizing and institutionalizing self-employment, which complicates harmonization efforts. While self-employment offers an alternative form of labor activity, its implementation in the national and common EAEU markets remains limited. Significant institutional differences hinder the development of unified regulatory standards. The study shows that labor migrants from EAEU countries face considerable restrictions in accessing self-employment opportunities. It is argued that the establishment of international mechanisms for regulating self-employment at the EAEU level could accelerate institutionalization processes at the national level and foster future legal harmonization. By highlighting the interplay between national regulation and supranational integration, this article contributes to understanding the challenges and prospects of self-employment in the EAEU labor market.