About ACCA
Outside the UK and Ireland, much of ACCA's European activity focused on ACCA's established expertise and leadership in environmental and small business issues.
ACCA formed alliances in the European SME community as a prelude to taking forward ACCA's SME agenda on a global basis in 2000. ACCA leads the small business group of FEE (the Federation of European Accountants), and has represented the profession on small business issues before the European Commission. In December, ACCA was admitted to UEAPME, (the European Association for Craft, Small and Medium Sized Enterprises), the most effective voice for European smaller business interests, representing seven million enterprises.
ACCA continued to develop and maintain excellent relations with leading professional bodies in Europe. 11 of these participate in the European Environmental Reporting Award Scheme which was initiated by ACCA.
Presentations were made to MEPs at the European Parliament in Strasbourg on developments in environmental, social and ethical reporting, to the World Conference of the International Council for Small Business in Naples and to the European Small Business Seminar in Lisbon.
ACCA has maintained excellent relations with European governmental institutions. In February, the then President, Michael Foulds, addressed a CCAB group in Gibraltar and met the Governor, Sir Richard Luce. Later, he met the President of the Portuguese Chamber of Auditors in Lisbon. Past President Peter Langard addressed the Round Table on the future of EU auditing at the Congress of the Compagnie Nationale des Commissaires aux Comptes in Toulouse. Karel van Hulle, head of an influential unit in the European Commission, addressed ACCA's Council in London.
In Cyprus, Christos Klerides (International Assembly member for Cyprus) and Lazaros Lazarou (International Assembly member for the Mediterranean) are now respectively the Cyprus Finance Minister and the Accountant General. These major individual achievements reflect the high standing generally of ACCA members in the country