In her paper to the National Policy Conference of the Canadian Conference of the Arts 2004, Capiau observes different and also some common approaches to defining the status of artists in Europe. Given the often precarious employment situation in the cultural sector and the living and working conditions specific to European artists, many social security and tax regulations are difficult to apply under common law. This has led to a variety of models instead of a common solution. The paper also deals with details of new social measures adopted by Belgium in 2003.