Professional services and research and education sectors to give evidence to Lords EU Committee inquiry on trade in services

On Thursday 28 January 2021 the House of Lords EU Services Sub-Committee will take evidence from two panels of witnesses on future UK-EU relations on trade in services.

The first session will focus on professional, business and digital services. The second session will be on the research and education sector. They will be held remotely and streamed on Parliament TV.

At 10am the Committee will hear from:

• Mickaël Laurans, Head of International, Law Society of England and Wales
• George Riddell, Director of Trade Strategy, EY
• Neil Ross, Head of Policy, techUK
• Amanda Tickel, International Tax Partner, Deloitte.

Questions the Committee is likely to ask include:

• The TCA establishes a framework for the future recognition of professional qualifications. How optimistic are you that qualifications will be recognised through this framework, and over what timescale?
• What impact will the TCA’s provisions on business mobility have on different sectors?
• What is the risk of UK professional services activity relocating to the EU as a result of new barriers to cross-border supply?
• How important is data adequacy to trade in professional and business services? How would you assess the chances of a positive adequacy decision from the European Commission in the coming months?

At 11.30am the Committee will hear from:

• Professor Ian Greer, Vice-Chancellor, Queen’s University Belfast
• Hillary Gyebi-Ababio, Vice President for Higher Education, National Union of Students
• Erik Huizer, Chief Executive Officer, GÉANT
• Professor Keith Jones, Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Research and Enterprise), University of Sussex
• Sir Paul Nurse, Director, The Francis Crick Institute.
  
  Questions the Committee is likely to ask include:
  • What does the UK’s decision to associate with the EU’s Horizon Europe programme mean for the sector?
  • What should the Government’s priorities be for domestic research funding, in addition to the Horizon Europe programme?
  • What will be the impact on students, and the research and education sector more broadly, of the UK choosing not to associate with the Erasmus+ programme?
  • The Government has announced the Turing scheme as a domestic alternative to the Erasmus+ programme. What should the scheme’s priorities be?
  • What impact will the arrangements set out under the TCA have on the mobility of researchers and students?

More on this inquiry

This inquiry, 'Future UK-EU relations: trade in services', has its own web page.

Last week the Committee focussed on the creative industries and took evidence from the British Council, British Film Institute, and the Musicians' Union. You can watch the session back on Parliament TV.