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It comes as directives continue to be issued from Brussels that directly impact upon IFAs' day-to-day business.

It is estimated 70 per cent of new regulatory proposals emanate from Brussels.

Chris Cummings, director general of Aifa, said: "The new European advisory committee will be charged with helping develop Aifa policy on European regulatory matters.

"At the heart of our plans is a desire to see more consumers able to access professional financial advice across each European member state.

"Far too much European regulation risks helping large institutions sell financial products. It will be our aim to help European policymakers understand the role and value of financial advice.

"There has never been a more important time to be influencing the European agenda to protect UK firms. We saw the impact of the Insurance Mediation Directive leading to general insurance regulation in the UK and, more recently the confusion caused by the implementation of the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive.

"The FSA has undertaken to 'copy out' directives in future, meaning they will simply be implemented into UK regulation. This means while the work of the Commission may seem distant, what is decided in Brussels today is enacted in the UK tomorrow."

Committee members

The committee already includes a number of Aifa members. These include Peter Mann from Bankhall, Paul Beard from Alexander Beard Group, Ian Thorneycroft from SimplyBiz, Stephen Smith from L&G Mortgage Partnership, Jonathan Cornell from Hamptons International, Tony Machin from Freedom Finance, Rob Clifford from Mortgage Force, Patrick Bunton from London and Country Mortgages, Simon Conn from Conti Financial Services and Barry Kayes and Marcus Kenny from AWD Group.

There are still places available on the committee for IFAs with a keen interest in UK regulation.

The launch of the European committee will further the role Aifa has taken already in challenging and offering advice to policy makers. Otto Thoresen, chief executive of Aegon UK and author of the recent review of generic financial advice, singled out Aifa as a body which had helped in the development of the report. Aifa has also been consulted with in previous developments on policy with the FSA.