Social protection of self-employed workers during the COVID-19 pandemic in Portugal and the role of EU law

In recent years, the increasingly dominant economic structure in the EU has been ignited by digital platforms and e-tools that depend upon independent and precarious workers, in special after the financial crisis. Such background hampers the social protection rights of workers and in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic they find themselves further exposed. This deprotection is even more evident concerning the self-employed, as independent workers, due to their precarious job relations, are less covered by social assistance than contracted ones. In Portugal, the national government approved an emergency aid to face this context. The present paper seeks to ascertain if such benefit, albeit possibly lawful in light of EU law, might be insufficient for the purpose of combating social exclusion. It lastly reflects how the EU could live up to its role of complementing national action in social matters.