As the UK government navigates the delicate "EU reset," the ACCA is calling for a move away from political rhetoric in favor of technical, economic pragmatism. From professional mobility to SME red tape, we analyze the four key pillars the body says are essential to making UK-EU trade functional again.
The political noise surrounding Brexit may never truly fall silent, but for the UK’s accountancy profession and the SMEs they support, the focus has shifted firmly toward the practicalities of the “EU reset.”
In its latest submission to the House of Commons’ Business and Trade Committee, the ACCA has effectively laid out a roadmap for what “functional” trade actually looks like in 2026. It’s a call for a pivot away from the ideological battles of the last decade toward a period of economic pragmatism.
Here is our analysis of the four pillars the ACCA believes will define the future of UK-EU trade.
One of the most persistent “hidden” costs of the post-Brexit landscape has been the friction in professional mobility. Since automatic recognition of qualifications vanished, the landscape for UK auditors and tax advisors has become a patchwork of bilateral agreements.
The ACCA isn’t just asking for a return to the status quo; they are highlighting a critical link to the UK’s industrial strategy. For the UK to remain a global financial hub, we need:
Fluidity for trainees: Ensuring those studying for professional qualifications can move between jurisdictions without bureaucratic resets.
Reciprocity: A more robust framework that allows UK firms to lead on European projects without the need for expensive, localized re-certification.
While the UK has the right to diverge from EU rules, the ACCA warns that doing so just for the sake of it creates a “regulatory tax” on businesses. We are seeing this play out in real-time with Sustainability Reporting.
As the EU rolls out the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), UK firms with European subsidiaries are finding themselves caught between two stools.
The Goal: Common frameworks for AI governance, digital taxation, and finance oversight.
The Risk: Without a structured dialogue, we face a “patchwork” of compliance that makes the UK a less attractive place to base a cross-border business.
Perhaps the most emotive part of the ACCA’s evidence concerns the SME sector. While large multinationals have the balance sheets to hire customs agents and VAT specialists, small firms are often one “incorrect form” away from a cancelled contract.
Jessica Bingham, ACCA’s Head of Regional Policy Development, notes that members are still struggling with:
Customs Complexity: The sheer administrative weight of moving goods.
VAT Quagmires: Disrupted supply chains caused by place-of-supply rule confusion.
The ACCA is advocating for a ‘Think Small First’ approach. This means any new trade arrangements should be stress-tested against the resources of a 10-person firm, not a FTSE 100 giant.
Modern trade is as much about data as it is about physical goods. The ACCA is sounding the alarm on digital silos. If UK and EU data systems stop talking to each other, the “frictionless trade” promised by digital solutions will remain a pipe dream.
“Businesses can only operate cross-border by using comparable digital systems.”
For accountants, this isn’t just a tech issue, it’s a data integrity and audit issue. Trusted data flows are essential for everything from real-time tax reporting to cross-border financial oversight.
The ACCA’s submission is a timely reality check. The “EU Reset” shouldn’t just be about high-level diplomacy; it needs to be a technical, line-by-line cleanup of the frictions that have built up since 2021.
Glenn Collins, ACCA’s Head of Technical and Strategic Engagement, is right to push the Committee toward issues that have a material impact on trade. For the UK’s accountancy firms, the priority isn’t re-litigating the past it’s ensuring that the “boring” technical stuff (VAT, data, and qualifications) works well enough to let businesses get back to growth.
The big question remains: Is the government ready to prioritize these technical fixes over the political optics of divergence? We’ll be watching the Committee’s response closely.
