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I reconvene the meeting with a reminder to members that we are still in public session.
Agenda item 5 is consideration of a paper on our European priorities for 2015, which members will all have had a chance to look at. Chic Brodie is our European reporter, and I ask him whether he wishes to add anything to his paper.
Nothing major, convener. I thank the clerks for the discussion that we had in preparing the paper. The European and External Relations Committee is looking for input to establish the Parliament’s European priorities, and in that respect I recommend three areas. First, the transatlantic trade and investment partnership proposals are gathering pace, heat or whatever—
The wheels are coming off. [Laughter.]
Hold on. Carry on, Mr Brodie.
The European and External Relations Committee is looking at the issue, but I think that, as I have proposed, we should keep a watching brief on it from an economic point of view. At some stage—as long as the wheels do not come off—we might want to get more information and investigate the implications for the Scottish economy.
The second area relates to fuel poverty and energy efficiency—after all, Mr Norman Kerr seems to be at the committee more often than some members. The European Union energy strategy, which will be tabled next month, covers energy security, carbon emissions and decarbonisation. Given the investigations that we have carried out and the issues that we will no doubt return to, that is an important area for us.
The third area is the tourism industry. The Cabinet Secretary for Culture, Europe and External Affairs mentioned the meeting that she attended, and the European tourism industry has agreed to look at how we can connect and communicate with the cultural and creative sectors. That is very appropriate, given the discussions that we have had over the past few weeks and the fact that we are looking at the support, training and skills that are required in that area.
Those are my three recommendations for the European and External Relations Committee, and I would welcome the committee’s support for them.
Thank you, Mr Brodie. Three priorities have been identified: TTIP, the EU energy strategy and the European tourism industry. Does anyone wish to comment, or are we happy just to agree the paper?
I agree with the proposition. TTIP is clearly a major concern at the moment and, given that previous EU interest in energy has caused some issues in the past, it makes sense to keep an eye on that area, too.
I agree with the three themes that have been set out. The concerns about TTIP continue to grow and, given the substantial growth in political opposition to some of its most dangerous aspects, we need to keep an eye on the matter. However, if we are going to look at the issue at all, we should go beyond the three areas—competition, technical barriers to trade, and small to medium-sized enterprises—that are mentioned in the paper. A lot of the concerns about the implications of TTIP go way beyond those areas and into a host of the Scottish Government’s economic priorities. Whether we agree or disagree with the way in which those priorities are framed, a great many of them—including, for example, the social solidarity targets in the national performance framework—are threatened by some of TTIP’s implications, and I would want to broaden the scope out beyond those three themes.
That is a very good point.
As no one else wishes to comment, I take it that we agree with the thrust of the paper.
Members indicated agreement.
Thank you, Mr Brodie. We will take that work forward in 2015.
12:14 Meeting continued in private until 12:27.Previous
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