The Recruitment and Employment Confederation has thrown its weight behind moves to create a single European market in services.

Deputy chief executive Marcia Roberts said the REC was backing the proposed services directive, which would make it easier for firms to set up in other countries.

But she warned: “Every single country apart from the UK appears to be opposed to it. There’s a lot of politics before it sees the light of day.”

James Kilbane, chairman of Grafton Recruitment International and a representative of Ireland’s National Recruitment Federation, also welcomed the directive.

“There are great barriers to the recruitment industry operating in other countries,” he said.