Accountancy suffers from ‘restrictive practices’ in Europe

Accountancy suffers from 'restrictive practices' in Europe

Lord Brittan calls for EU to make "ruthless" drive to single market for professions

FORMER EU vice president Lord Brittan has called for a “ruthless” drive to create a single European market in accountancy and other professions.

Prime Minister David Cameron’s trade adviser said the EU adopted a directive on the mutual recognition of professional qualifications in 2005 but restrictive rules “remain rife”, citing entry barriers ranging from fixed tariffs, complex shareholding requirements, onerous capital requirements and restrictions on the legal form a company should take.

Brittan’s appeal, in a speech to Business for Europe, followed the disclosure of UK government thinking in a summary of a letter to the Commons EU Scrutiny Committee from Employment Minister Edward Davey warning any “forced” break-up of the Big Four to ease concentration at the top of the audit market risked “unintended consequences” and voiced support for a single audit passport provided it was only required for firms operating in two or more member states and not to all practitioners.

Brittan’s approach was directed at the whole of the EU business services sector which he claimed is 40% less efficient that in the US.

He urged: “We need a ruthless focus on making the single market work and tackling restrictive practices in particular sectors.”

He added: “Many of the restrictive practices which remain apply particularly to important economic sectors, such as construction or accountancy.”

The Tory grandee on leave as vice chairman of UBS Investment Bank and Trade until March [2011] and Industry Secretary in Mrs Thatcher’s government, said: “We should ask whether Europe should continue to regulate around 4,600 professions across the single market or whether more could be done to remove barriers to the cross-border provision of professional and business services to create a more integrated single market.”

Picture: Lord Brittan from WTO Public Forum 2010 Flickr photostream

Share

Subscribe to get your daily business insights

Resources & Whitepapers

Why Professional Services Firms Should Ditch Folders and Embrace Metadata
Professional Services

Why Professional Services Firms Should Ditch Folders and Embrace Metadata

3y

Why Professional Services Firms Should Ditch Folde...

In the past decade, the professional services industry has transformed significantly. Digital disruptions, increased competition, and changing market ...

View resource
2 Vital keys to Remaining Competitive for Professional Services Firms

2 Vital keys to Remaining Competitive for Professional Services Firms

3y

2 Vital keys to Remaining Competitive for Professi...

In recent months, professional services firms are facing more pressure than ever to deliver value to clients. Often, clients look at the firms own inf...

View resource
Turn Accounts Payable into a value-engine
Accounting Firms

Turn Accounts Payable into a value-engine

3y

Turn Accounts Payable into a value-engine

In a world of instant results and automated workloads, the potential for AP to drive insights and transform results is enormous. But, if you’re still ...

View resource
Digital Links: A guide to MTD in 2021
Making Tax Digital

Digital Links: A guide to MTD in 2021

3y

Digital Links: A guide to MTD in 2021

The first phase of Making Tax Digital (MTD) saw the requirement for the digital submission of the VAT Return using compliant software. That’s now behi...

View resource