This directive covers self-employed workers, including farmers and members of the liberal professions and their spouses who participate in the activities of the enterprise, by performing similar tasks or ancillary tasks. The Directive has several provisions to ensure equal treatment between self-employed male and female workers, to protect the rights of spouses of self-employed workers, where the spouses do not have professional status and to protect self-employed workers or wives of self-employed workers during pregnancy and motherhood.