The Services Directive is due to be implemented by EU Member States from the beginning of next year. In advance of that SITPRO, in association with the Department for Business Innovation and Skills (BIS) and Clifford Chance, is hosting an important and timely conference on 7 October organised by BIP solutions. It is aimed at informing suppliers, in particular SMEs, and consumers of services what implementation of the Directive will mean for them.
Services account for 70% of UK GDP and are therefore hugely important to the national economy, especially in the present economic climate. Services are not just drivers for growth in their own right. They are also enablers that will help UK businesses to trade out of the current global economic downturn. The EU Services Directive aims to break down barriers to cross-border trade in services between countries in the EU. It will make it easier for service providers, particularly SMEs, to offer their services to customers in other EU countries whether by setting up in other Member States or by providing services remotely from wherever they are already established in the EU.
The conference will be chaired by Norman Rose (SITPRO’s Chairman) and the keynote speaker is Ian Lucas MP, Minister for Business and Regulatory Reform. Other speakers include Oliver Bretz (Clifford Chance), Tina Sommer (Federation of Small Businesses), Claire Durkin (BIS) and Maria Martin-Prat (European Commission). It takes place in the Cavendish Conference Centre, London (the cost for private sector delegates is £195+VAT). You can book and find out more at www.bipsolutions.com/events/EUService09.
Return to SITPRO News: Issue 69, Summer 2009
