EEA throws weight behind practice rights in Iceland, Norway, Liechtenstein

DIRECTIVE: Swiss baulk at relaxing quota system for foreign lawyers despite accords

English and Welsh solicitors are set to have practice rights in Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein following a decision earlier this year by the Council of the European Economic Area (EEA) scheduled to come into force early next year.

Practice rights for European Union lawyers were extended to Switzerland - which is not a member of the EU or the EEA - under EU-Swiss Accords on the Free Movement of Persons, which came into force in June this year.

The EU directive on which these bilateral agreements are based entitles lawyers within the EU to practise permanently and without restriction, under their home professional title, in another member state.

It also makes it easier to requalify.

June O'Keefe, the Law Society's European executive who heads Chancery Lane's Brussels office, said Norway's petrol industry would make the opening of that Scandinavian market significant.

However, the rights of lawyers to establish in Switzerland will continue to be restricted as the Swiss maintain a quota system for foreign lawyers.

EU members France, Luxembourg and Ireland have still not fully implemented the rights of practice directive.

Denmark, which took over the presidency of the EU in July, has proposed that the disqualification of professionals - including lawyers - be made more transparent throughout the EU.

A draft text intends to make it difficult for members disbarred in their home jurisdiction from setting up in another EU country.

Meanwhile, the internal market directorate of the EU has produced a report outlining remaining barriers faced by service providers in the union.

Those affecting law firms include rules on the formation of multi-disciplinary partnerships, forms of practice and professional liability insurance, restrictions on commercial communications, and the rules on whether lawyers can advertise.

Issues affecting legal practice also feature in the latest consultation document from the Department of Trade and Industry outlining the UK's offer position for the latest round of the World Trade Organisation's General Agreements on Trade and Services.

Relevant offers relate to the UK position on global recognition of legal qualifications and the need for competition safeguards in the legal services market.

LINKS: EU internal market report: www.europa.eu.int/comm/internal_market; DTI GATS paper: www.dti.gov.uk/worldtrade/service.htm

Jeremy Fleming