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Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales

ICAEW

ICAEW represents more than 202,450 chartered accountants members and students around the world.

Lobbying Activity

Meeting with Raluca Trasca (Head of Unit Taxation and Customs Union), Valeria Miceli (Head of Unit Taxation and Customs Union), Valerie Ledure (Head of Unit Taxation and Customs Union)

8 Dec 2025 · VAT and customs related issues perceived as creating difficulties in the development of trade between the EU and the UK

Meeting with Gerassimos Thomas (Director-General Taxation and Customs Union) and

30 Oct 2025 · Discussion about how ICAEW could contribute to policy discussions at EU level with a view to facilitate trade between UK and EU.

Meeting with Maria Raffaella Assetta (Head of Unit Financial Stability, Financial Services and Capital Markets Union)

23 Oct 2025 · Audit supervision, EU–UK equivalence and third-country auditors

Response to Communication on maximising the potential of talent mobility as part of the European Year of Skills

12 Oct 2023

ICAEW supports the two initiatives set out in the Call For Evidence to maximize talent mobility and to deliver on the 2023 work programme to recognise the qualifications of third country nationals. Across Europe it is widely recognised that there is a shortage of qualified accountants and statutory auditors. While some good work has been done to increase the attractiveness of the profession and develop additional capacity within the EU, it has become increasingly necessary for accountancy and audit firms to look outside of the EU for appropriately qualified individuals. Our members have communicated to us however that the overly complex and burdensome recognition procedures in place in many EU countries, as well as a lack of clarity on exactly what the requirements are in individual jurisdictions, has created significant difficulties for those seeking recognition and mobility both for members already based in the EU and for those transferring in from outside, including from the UK. The simplification and clarification of the recognition processes for third country nationals will go a considerable way to lowering the burden for those making an application for posts in the EU. The recommendation that local jurisdictions further align their recognition processes with those set out in Directive 2025/36/EC will increase transparency on local requirements and should lessen the difficulties qualified individuals have with navigating local recognition requirements that can vary significantly from country to country and have acted as a barrier to seeking recognition. The Skills First approach is particularly welcome. ICAEW is part of a pan-European group of professional accountancy and audit bodies, Professional Accountancy Education Europe (PAEE), that has worked over 20 years to develop a comprehensive skills framework covering both technical and soft skills that are considered a baseline of those necessary for accountants and auditors embarking on their careers. All PAEE full member bodies have been mapped and reviewed against the requirements in this framework and are therefore able to demonstrate equivalence in their qualifications. Recent work of the PAEE has brought this framework up to date and it will continue to evolve as the profession changes. Further information is available at https://pa2e.eu
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Response to VAT in the Digital Age

30 Mar 2023

Please find attached a representation from the Tax Faculty of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales.
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Response to Tackling the role of enablers involved in facilitating tax evasion and aggressive tax planning in the European Union

11 Oct 2022

Please find attached a joint letter from the Chartered Institute of Taxation and the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales setting out some further feedback on the UK experiences on measures to tackle aggressive tax planning which we trust the EU Commission will find helpful. The letter highlights the approach we and other professional bodies undertook to amend our existing pan professional code of conduct in relation to taxation (the PCRT) to clarify that expected standards of professional behaviour should not include giving tax advice likely to be viewed as aggressive tax avoidance. We would encourage the EU to review the PCRT and also the CFE work on the ethical bar project, as well as encouraging member states to develop and publish consistent information on the extent of the "tax gap" which will assist in formulating properly targeted and proportionate responses to the problems identified.
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Response to Evaluation of administrative co-operation and fight against fraud in the field of VAT

25 Jul 2022

Please find attached a short representation from the Tax Faculty of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales. Our response is focused on how the rules set out in the VAT e-commerce package have affected our members, including both those members providing advice to UK based businesses and those who work for such businesses. In the fight against fraud (and to reduce scope for errors), we believe that cooperation between tax authorities in the Member States would be more straightforward if the number of EU VAT registrations (both registrations in individual Member States and (I)OSS registrations) any one business was required to hold could be reduced.
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Response to Revision of Non-Financial Reporting Directive

13 Jul 2021

ICAEW welcomes the opportunity to provide feedback on the CSRD proposals, published on 21 April 2021. Building more sustainable and resilient net-zero economies calls for a fresh look at corporate reporting: the proposals address important issues around sustainability reporting, standards and assurance. While the proposals will be of particular interest to EU countries, companies and stakeholders, the issues addressed are of keen international concern. EU legislative change will provide an important reference point for other jurisdictions. THE PURPOSE OF REPORTING We support the move towards a corporate reporting system that fully encompasses financial and sustainability reporting. Extending the scope and requirements of the NFRD should help to significantly improve the depth and quality of sustainability information. It is vital to retain clarity over the ultimate objective of sustainability reporting, i.e. producing information that can help with efforts to address environmental and social challenges. This requires sustained focus on areas where there is wide demand from businesses and stakeholders to deal with practical information needs. This will be particularly important as more companies start to fall under the direct or indirect remit of the proposed CSRD, including SMEs. STANDARDISATION The cornerstone of the proposals is the mandatory requirement for listed and large entities in the EU to report detailed sustainability information covering their whole value chain. This will be a significant change for many entities, including those coming within the scope of the legislation for the first time. There will need to be consideration from the start as to how to support them in building up capacity and understanding. The draft CSRD calls for such information to be prepared according to EU sustainability reporting standards, to be developed by EFRAG. The breadth and depth of the suggested standards – and the timetable outlined – are extremely ambitious. Meeting such ambitions will require the support, experience and expertise of existing sustainability reporting initiatives and standard-setters. The development of high quality and proportionate standards in the public interest must also be underpinned by a rigorous and transparent due process. INTERNATIONAL ALIGNMENT We strongly support the development of international sustainability reporting standards and encourage all parties to continue to accelerate work towards this goal. A global baseline of standards can provide a helpful common solution that is scalable and facilitates global comparability, without preventing individual jurisdictions from addressing specific policy objectives. For this to happen, all parties need to work together to deliver meaningful and globally-consistent change with the urgency and scale required. This may require some organisational experimentation to find the most appropriate way of involving different parties. Transparency of work, avoidance of duplication and the search for early consensus will be key, especially in relation to proposed climate standards. Some additional, practical suggestions are set out in our attached paper. RELIABILITY We welcome the attention paid to reliability, with the proposed introduction of mandatory sustainability assurance. A phased approach, starting with limited assurance and moving over time towards reasonable assurance, seems sensible. Making assurance more commonplace will require some basic challenges to be addressed, including strengthening control systems and enhancing the skills of boards and audit committees. These are not quick fixes and may require significant investment by some organisations. Ensuring proper application and consistent enforcement is an essential corollary of good reporting. As recognised by the draft CSRD, a robust regime will eventually be needed to realise the full benefits of this enhanced reporting regime.
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Meeting with Paulina Dejmek Hack (Cabinet of President Jean-Claude Juncker)

10 Jul 2018 · Speech at the Launch of Women in EU finance & investment policy network

Meeting with Ann Mettler (Director-General Inspire, Debate, Engage and Accelerate Action)

21 Mar 2018 · Inter-Generational Fairness

Response to Fitness check on public reporting by companies

8 Mar 2018

ICAEW welcomes the opportunity to comment on the proposal for a Fitness Check on public reporting by companies. ICAEW is listed in the EU Transparency Register (ID number: 7719382720-34). 1. ICAEW welcomes the European Commission’s (EC) proposed Fitness check on public reporting by companies. In our view, it is both important and necessary to evaluate public reporting requirements on a regular basis in order to ensure they are still fit for purpose. It also provides an opportunity to reflect on whether reporting requirements need to be updated for any relevant developments, for example, in relation to technology, or to pinpoint any areas requiring further consideration. 2. Indeed, we are very active in current discussions on future developments in corporate reporting, and in 2017 issued the report What’s next for corporate reporting: time to decide? In this report, we take stock of where corporate reporting stands at present and identify the key decisions that need to be taken before a step change in the quality and usefulness of reports can be achieved, with particular reference to non-financial reporting. The report also captures some of the main features of current discussions including in relation to: • The development of new business models and the growing importance of internally-generated intangible assets; • Balancing the reporting needs of investors with those of a wider range of stakeholders; • The potential impact of technological developments; and • The growing number and importance of non-financial reporting initiatives. We are pleased to note that the EC’s proposed consultation will be examining each of the above areas, as well as other important matters, and we look forward to responding in due course. 3. We also support the EC’s plan to evaluate the accounting regime for micro-entities which, since it was introduced in the UK in 2013, albeit on an optional basis, has led to a number of concerns regarding the usefulness of the information included in micro-entity accounts. We believe this to be a timely and welcome review of the micro-entity regime. 4. We understand that the final EC consultation, when issued, will be open for comment over a 12 week period. In our view, this is not sufficient time to enable stakeholders to carry out a thorough assessment of the matters under discussion. We suggest that a consultation of this scope and importance should be open for comment for at least 4 months in order to elicit good quality feedback from professional institutes and other organisations that wish to consult their members and other stakeholders before responding. We would be happy, time permitting, to work with the EC to help gather broader views, perhaps through hosting an event in London or Brussels.
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Meeting with Ruth Paserman (Cabinet of Commissioner Marianne Thyssen) and PwCIL

30 May 2017 · Intergenerational Fairness

Meeting with Aare Järvan (Cabinet of Vice-President Andrus Ansip)

2 Mar 2016 · EC DSM Agenda and Plans for Digitisation of Tax

Meeting with Sebastian Kuck (Cabinet of Commissioner Jonathan Hill)

15 Oct 2015 · International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS)

Meeting with Maria Elena Scoppio (Cabinet of Commissioner Pierre Moscovici)

24 Mar 2015 · EU plan on corporate tax

Meeting with Sebastian Kuck (Cabinet of Commissioner Jonathan Hill)

5 Mar 2015 · Accounting and Audit

Meeting with Elisabeth Werner (Cabinet of Vice-President Kristalina Georgieva)

4 Mar 2015 · Meeting with ICAEW(The Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales)