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25/09/2003
PCG report successful council meeting
The Professional Contractors Group (PCG) attended the first pan-European workshop on Freelancing in IT, hosted by the Council of European Professional Informatics Societies (CEPIS) at Frankfurt airport on Saturday 20 September 2003.
The CEPIS comprises 35 professional bodies from throughout Europe, including the UK's British Computer Society (BCS). The PCG had been invited to attend as part of the BCS delegation, in recognition of its unique knowledge of this specialist area.
An advance survey of the participants revealed that the UK was the only participating country that could identify its freelance labour force and that with over 200,000 IT freelancers it had the largest IT-related flexible workforce in Europe – significantly outnumbering all its European counterparts combined.
The workshop established that freelancers throughout Europe faced many common challenges and required common solutions in that they were highly independent in their thinking and attitudes, and neither asked for nor desired external intervention in their business activities.
Freelancers needed the authorities to remove the many artificial barriers to small business that currently distorted an otherwise free market, thereby allowing them to compete on more equal terms with larger rivals which were not hampered to the same extent by red tape or unfair tax regimes, the council heard.
PCG chairman Simon Griffiths said: "Participants at the CEPIS workshop concluded that there was a need for local representatives in the other European countries, and that replication of the UK's successful PCG model should be encouraged. We are very pleased to be at the forefront in campaigning on issues that matter to freelancers, devoting considerable energy to the issue of quality standards and accreditation, and highlighting the value of a strong freelance community to the economy. We have taken the lead in shaping the future of freelancing."
The next meeting of the CEPIS panel will take place in the UK during October 2003.
(gmcg)
The CEPIS comprises 35 professional bodies from throughout Europe, including the UK's British Computer Society (BCS). The PCG had been invited to attend as part of the BCS delegation, in recognition of its unique knowledge of this specialist area.
An advance survey of the participants revealed that the UK was the only participating country that could identify its freelance labour force and that with over 200,000 IT freelancers it had the largest IT-related flexible workforce in Europe – significantly outnumbering all its European counterparts combined.
The workshop established that freelancers throughout Europe faced many common challenges and required common solutions in that they were highly independent in their thinking and attitudes, and neither asked for nor desired external intervention in their business activities.
Freelancers needed the authorities to remove the many artificial barriers to small business that currently distorted an otherwise free market, thereby allowing them to compete on more equal terms with larger rivals which were not hampered to the same extent by red tape or unfair tax regimes, the council heard.
PCG chairman Simon Griffiths said: "Participants at the CEPIS workshop concluded that there was a need for local representatives in the other European countries, and that replication of the UK's successful PCG model should be encouraged. We are very pleased to be at the forefront in campaigning on issues that matter to freelancers, devoting considerable energy to the issue of quality standards and accreditation, and highlighting the value of a strong freelance community to the economy. We have taken the lead in shaping the future of freelancing."
The next meeting of the CEPIS panel will take place in the UK during October 2003.
(gmcg)
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