To be fair, having grown up in Belgium, they take their red tape and bureaucracy to a whole new level.
I considered moving back there and freelancing after university, but the hoops you have to jump through (and tax you have to pay) scared me off that idea pretty quickly.
Hoops to jump through: set up a business bank account, fill out some forms, about 30 minutes tops. Pay taxes once a year for federal, provincial and city and VAT four times a year through a free online system. Sounds like a lot but it takes hardly any time. As a freelancer you can keep simplified accounts, double bookkeeping is optional. Pay an accountant if that's too much to deal with.
Admittedly it's more of a hassle in Belgium than it is in the UK (they treat sole traders really well) but it's still a walk in the park.
Level of taxation: sure, it's a lot, but always less than what an employee would pay. And you get health insurance and are saving for retirement as a part of that bargain – even as a freelancer!
I considered moving back there and freelancing after university, but the hoops you have to jump through (and tax you have to pay) scared me off that idea pretty quickly.