Efforts to reduce the bureaucracy faced by British lawyers practising in the EU suffered a blow at the weekend as Europe's bar leaders failed to reach unanimous agreement on a lobbying approach to the proposed Services Directive.

The UK delegation in Bordeaux (see above) proposed that the European Commission should be lobbied to include lawyers within the directive. But its suggestion foundered on opposition from the French and German delegations, and the British could only convince another four countries to vote with it in what was an informal straw poll.


However, it is understood that CCBE president, the Paris-based Bernard Vatier, will accept that 'indicative vote' as a mandate to take to the commission. That effectively means official CCBE policy is to promote exclusion of lawyers from the directive. The UK had argued that the CCBE should lobby for inclusion, with the caveat of the directive being subject to some amendments.


If implemented, the directive arguably would make it easier for British lawyers to offer their services throughout the EU without being subject to local professional rules.