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LSCA Visit to Brussels – Feedback from 2 Members |
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Having seen the event advertised in the ICAA newsletter, both John Freudenthal and Peter Crouch signed up for the trip. They joined the LSCA (London Society of Chartered Accountants) group, who also promoted the visit, at St. Pancras International Station at 8.00 am on Monday 21 June and took the 8.27am Eurostar train to Brussels. The journey took just under two hours during which time John and Peter got to know the other delegates on the trip.
On arriving at Brussels, the delegates were collected by coach and taken to the hotel. Tight timescales meant delegates had to register, take their bags to their rooms and have lunch before the commencement of the first technical session.
A one hour session, welcoming delegates and an introductory talk by Martin Manuzi of the ICAEW Brussels Office, started the conference. Thenthere were presentations given by Susanna Di Feliciantonio and Pablo Portugal, both of the ICAEW Brussels Office, on the role of ICAEW in Europe.
This was followed by Sarah Murray, Team Leader, East of England Office in Brussels. She gave a very comprehensive account of the activities embarked on by the East of England Office in Brussels for its members inthe UK. Next was a talk given by Kieran O’Keeffe, Head of European Representation of the British Chambers of Commerce, East of England Office in Brussels, explaining the work carried out on responses to the white paper for the AIFM Directive better know as the Financial ServicesDirective.
We were then taken to the European Parliament which was a short five minutes walk from the hotel / conference centre where we were the guestsof London MEP Marina Yannakoudakis.
Following a welcome from our host, Marina Yannakoudakis, presentations were made by MEPs Charles Tannock, Syed Kamall and Kay Swinburne on workbeing done responding to the white papers on the Maternity Leave Directive and the Financial Services Directive.
The lady in the centre is London MEP Marina Yannakoudakis at the main reception of the European Parliament.
To her immediate left are ICAA members John Freudenthal and Peter Crouch.
In the evening we enjoyed a meal at the Scheltema Restaurant, in the centre of Brussels, where Marina Yannakoudakis joined us and gave an amusing and enlightening after dinner talk.
On Tuesday morning we had an early breakfast and then walked to the FEE (Federation des Experts-comptables Europeens) office a few blocks away from our hotel. FEE is the European umbrella organisation for all the accounting bodies in Europe and represents the European accountancy profession.
The first presentation was on the Profession in Europe and in particular“FEE priorities” by both Henri Olivier, FEE Secretary General and Olivier Boutellis, FEE Chief Executive.
Saskia Slomp, Director at the European Financial Reporting Advisory Group (known as EFRAG), followed with a very comprehensive account on the work being done on the reform of the Accounting Directives.
Steven Maisel, an FCA and ICAEW member, who also happens to be Presidentof British Chamber of Commerce Belgium then provided a “Member’s perspective of lessons learnt from the Global Financial Crisis”.
The final session was presented by Michael Vercnocke, Head of Brussels Office, City of London, who gave a very comprehensive talk on the issuessurrounding the AIFM Directive.
The technical sessions ended at 1.00pm and we then were taken around thecorner from the FEE office to the ICAEW Europe Office where we were provided with a lavish buffet lunch.
After expressing our thanks and farewells to the ICAEW Brussels staff, we climbed on a mini bus for a sightseeing tour of Brussels. We were then dropped off in the city centre for an hour or so to walk around thepopular tourist area, to do some shopping and to watch an annual paradein the main square.
Finally we were taken to the main train station for check-in well in time to catch the 6.00pm Eurostar back to London.
In conclusion, both of us can say it was a very educational, informativeand interesting two days and well worth the cost. We have no hesitationin making the trip again which has virtually become an annual ICAEW event.
From : John Freudenthal and Peter Crouch
If you are interested in attending next year's trip to Brussels or would like to find out more information please contact
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Last Updated ( Monday, 26 July 2010 )
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