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In January 2004 ACE took a significant step as a trade association and became a member of the Confederation of British Industry. This year it has taken that a step further and joined the CBI’s British Business Bureau.
The CBI created its new British Business Bureau in 1991 to help reflect the importance and role of its trade association members. It focuses specifically on the work that trade associations do well, and, after recent discussions, ACE has now become a member to secure the benefits of a voice in Brussels.
Based in Brussels in the EU quarter, the BBB is close to the European Parliament and the Commission. One of the key benefits of BBB membership is that it helps to monitor EU policy developments on behalf of members. This helps to ensure that groups like ACE, who work to promote and support business in Europe, stay well informed about politics on the continent.
The BBB also offers logistical support to facilitate public affairs operations in Brussels, where many UK trade associations have little or no individual presence. This can result in valuable strategic advice on lobbying in the EU.
ACE member firms can also benefit directly from ACE’s membership of the British Business Bureau. The BBB office serves as a Brussels base for its members. This means it can be used for accessing institutions as well as being a venue for conducting meetings and seminars.
Through the BBB, ACE intends to host a series of EU roundtable forums. The first of these is planned for June and will give ACE the opportunity to meet and share views with EU policy makers.
This serves as a vital portal to an area of political influence that is of growing significance in UK law and economic development. It is also backed by advice on the EU policy makers and processes.
As ACE looks to build support for construction liability reform it is hoped that membership of the BBB will see that message delivered at a new level.
BBB will also facilitate the launching of ACE’s water paper entitled “introducing competition into the water market”.
The paper is being researched to explore the possibility of applying to the water industry some of the competitive and market forces that have been implemented within the energy sector. Prior European support for reform of the energy market makes this a strong area to promote in Brussels. The paper will look at how measures to increase competition might improve the investment decision making process, smooth the current investment cycle and increase the availability and accuracy of price signals.
With an extensive network of contacts within the EU Institutions, the CBI BBB is an excellent platform to access the EU and a great source of information on EU matters and how this affects your business.
As a member of ACE you benefit from our membership of the BBB
To book meeting room facilities and arrange seminars at the CBI BBB offices, or to register to receive one of a number of regular updates on EU legislative activity from the BBB, please contact ACE international business manager, Naomi Bari on nbari@acenet.co.uk
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