This case involved a Romanian plasterer who was self-employed in Ireland for the period 2008 - 2012. Due to the recession he could not find work and applied for jobseeker's allowance in 2012. His application was refused on the basis that he had not demonstrated that he continued to have a right to reside in Ireland. This decision was formed on the understanding that the Complainant had lost his status as a self-employed person and no longer satisfied the conditions of the Free Movement Directive which afforded him the right to reside in Ireland. The Court of Justice was therefore asked by the Irish Courts to determine whether the expression 'is in … involuntary unemployment after having been employed for more than one year', as provided in the directive, applies equally to both employees and those who had been self-employed. 

The Court of Justice held that the Directive cannot be interpreted in a way that results in self-employed persons being excluded from the protection provided to employees. The Court noted that such an interpretation would be contrary to the general scheme and purpose of the act, particularly as it would introduce an unjustified difference in the treatment of those working as employed persons and those working as self-employed persons. The Court ruled that a national of a Member State retains the status of a self- employed person, for the purposes of the directive, in circumstances where they have lawfully resided and worked as a self-employed person in another Member State but have ceased that activity because of an absence of work owing to reasons beyond their control.
https://curia.europa.eu/jcms/upload/docs/application/pdf/2017-12/cp170144en.pdf