Post-Brexit barriers hamper professional mobility

As the Law Society of England and Wales highlights, nearly a decade after the Brexit referendum, the imposition of post-Brexit barriers is restricting business mobility and limiting career opportunities for younger professionals. This predicament not only threatens individual careers but also jeopardises Britain's substantial £3 billion services export to the EU. Young UK lawyers, in particular, are encountering significant new hurdles when trying to work in vital trading hubs such as Paris, Brussels, and Frankfurt due to visa delays and complex administrative processes which hinder their ability to establish their careers and build essential networks.

Law firms are increasingly abandoning EU secondment programmes, and UK lawyers must now contend with a confusing array of 27 different regulatory regimes. It’s not just lawyers who are feeling the effects; evidence indicates that a multitude of other professions, including consultants, architects, accountants, engineers, financial service providers, and creatives, are likewise impacted. Additionally, businesses and professionals from the EU are experiencing similar difficulties navigating the post-Brexit landscape in the UK.

As the next EU–UK Summit approaches, the Law Society urges both parties to focus on practical measures that promote professional mobility and stimulate economic growth. Law Society president Mark Evans stated “The next EU-UK Summit must provide a clear opportunity to agree a balanced, reciprocal youth mobility scheme with the EU that will support young professionals aged 18 to 35 to gain valuable, time-limited work experience across the UK and EU”. He further emphasised the need to "open negotiations on business mobility, civil judicial cooperation, and the mutual recognition of professional qualifications" to underpin trade in services and drive UK growth.

Evans reminded stakeholders that “The EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement includes provisions that enable the UK and EU to introduce improvements to business mobility”. He urged, “We call on the UK and EU to make the most of these provisions, as improvements would be in the mutual interests of professionals both sides of the channel”. He concluded by stating, “Europe is still the UK legal sector’s strongest export partner, and this success is under threat. The UK legal sector remains globally dominant, but competitiveness risks are growing. New barriers could erode long-term advantage”.