Legal services will be among the European Commission's top priorities in forthcoming Asian trade talks, EU officials told a Law Society delegation in Brussels this week.


The assurance was given after Law Society President Fiona Woolf called on EU negotiators to prioritise legal services in their imminent work on free trade agreements with India, Korea and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations countries.



Ms Woolf had a series of meetings with senior trade negotiators, including the director-general of DG Trade, during which she stressed the importance of including the legal sector in negotiations.



The EU-Korea agreement will be launched next week and the EU-India agreement will be launched at the end of May.

Ms Woolf said: 'Open legal markets are not only good for exporting countries such as the UK, they also help promote economic growth and development in poorer countries.



With the launch of free trade agreements between the European Union and some of our major Asian trading partners due next month, I want to raise the profile of legal services and to stress the benefits of legal market opening.'



Meanwhile, Department for Constitutional Affairs minister Baroness Ashton has been in India this week to press for liberalisation of its legal services market. She met with trade and justice ministers in New Delhi, and representatives of bar councils in Chandigarh, Bangalore and Chennai.



Baroness Ashton said: 'The dramatic growth of India's economy has led to a significant demand from international business and, therefore, from UK lawyers for greater access to that market to serve the needs of inward investors and Indian exporters.'



Catherine Baksi