Main Article Self-employed professionals in the European labour market. A comparison between Italy, Germany and the UK Paolo Borghi Universita` degli Studi di Milano-Bicocca, Italy Anna Mori Universita` degli Studi di Milano, Italy Renata Semenza Universita` degli Studi di Milano, Italy Summary The transition to an on-demand service economy, supported by unprecedented technological developments and the digital revolution, has modified traditional self-employed professions and generated new ones, fostering the growth of a body of highly qualified and hyper-specialised self- employed professionals in the European economies. An analysis of this phenomenon highlights three critical questions, connected to their position in the labour market: 1) the contested defi- nition of their legal status and the (ad hoc) regulation adopted; 2) their position within each national social protection system; 3) the complexity of collective representation in a context of major labour market fragmentation. The article explores these issues from a socio-economic perspective, comparing three European countries  Italy, Germany and the UK  with differ- ent welfare state regimes and diverse models for regulating professions. First findings show partly divergent responses to such common challenges, yet display some positive signs of change for self- employed professionals. Re´ sume´ La transition vers une e´conomie de services a` la demande, soutenue par des e´volutions techno- logiques sans pre´ce´dent et par la re´volution nume´rique, a modifie´ les professions inde´pendantes traditionnelles et en a cre´e´ de nouvelles, en favorisant dans les e´conomies europe´ennes la croissance d’une cate´gorie d’inde´pendants hautement qualifie´s et hyperspe´cialise´s. Une analyse de ce phe´nome`ne souligne trois questions critiques, lie´es a` la position des inte´resse´s sur le marche´ du Corresponding author: Anna Mori, Universita` degli Studi di Milano, via Conservatorio 7, 20122 Milan, Italy. Email: anna.mori@unimi.it Transfer 1–15 ª The Author(s) 2018 Reprints and permission: sagepub.co.uk/journalsPermissions.nav DOI: 10.1177/1024258918761564 journals.sagepub.com/home/trs