Posted By David Brede I append below an article in this weeks 'Tribune' Magazine that fellow professionals may wish to comment on 'Proposed new European Union rules could place the safety of British workers and consumers at risk, according to unions and MEPs. This concern follows the publication of the draft EU Directive of Services in the Internal Market. The brainchild of the European Commission, this seeks to make the EU’s internal market more efficient by making it easier for a company in one country to provide services in another. In order to achieve this, it is proposed that companies will no longer have to establish a subsidiary firm in the country where the service will be provided which would be subject to the host nation’s consumer, competition and employment laws. Under the EU proposals, companies will only have to adhere to the health and safety and employment laws in their “country of origin”. It will also become the responsibility of the country where the company is registered, rather than the host country, to ensure that those laws are adhered to. This has prompted fears that companies may register in the EU country which has the weakest health and safety legislation. By adhering to lower standards, foreign companies would be able to provide cheaper services than domestic competitors.'