Official Report 425KB pdf
We move on to agenda item 5, our last item of business today, which is an update on European matters. I ask our European reporter, John Wilson, to speak to the paper LGR/S4/15/21/2.
I am grateful to the clerks for drawing up the paper. They have brought together the background and included the Scottish Parliament information centre briefing and the very useful response from the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities to the future EU priorities.
I want to draw attention to a couple of points that have been identified. First, on the public procurement rules, Scottish statutory instruments will be laid before Parliament later this year in relation to public procurement rules and EU harmonisation.
Secondly, the mandatory transparency register, which is a nice title for lobbying, is clearly on the agendas of the European Commission, the EU and the Scottish Government. We need to watch the future direction of that very closely. COSLA raises some issues in its response because it fears that it may be considered as a lobbyist to the Scottish Parliament and the European Union.
Finally, there is the transatlantic trade and investment partnership, which we have discussed previously. I draw members’ attention to the trade and service agreement that is currently being worked up. It is clear from the SPICe briefing that it was hoped that TTIP would have been signed off by the end of this year to coincide with the outgoing American Administration. Given some of the difficulties on getting that agreement debated in the European Parliament, it might not reach us this side of the American elections—I hope.
The situation is one to be watched. As we have already identified, the impact on public services in Scotland, particularly local authorities and arm’s-length external organisations, is one that we should watch with interest.
Thank you for that update. Do we agree to write to the European and External Relations Committee asking to be kept informed about the implications of the suspension of the 2007 to 2013 European social fund programmes and the implications that that has for the 2014 to 2020 European structural and investment funds programmes?
Members indicated agreement.
Do members want to take action in respect of any other European issues considered in the paper? We will keep a close eye on the issues that John Wilson has raised.
I will just remind members that I am currently a member of the European and External Relations Committee and I am familiar with most, if not all, of this material. I want to draw to the committee’s attention the business relating to the digital single market, which features fairly regularly in the discussions of the European and External Relations Committee.
Although we are all supportive of the initiatives and aims behind the digital single market, members of the committee still have some concerns about Europe’s attitude to things such as mobile phone roaming charges, which as the committee may recall were due to be ended in December 2015 but which will not be, presumably at the behest of mobile companies lobbying the European Parliament. That is extremely disappointing. We should take any opportunity we have to raise that issue with visitors to the committee from Europe, to ask them about the background to that and to ask them to impress on the Commission and member states the need to make some progress.
Although the digital single market contains some important aims and objectives, it is clear that ending roaming charges is a major one. It does the reputation of the European Parliament no good to have slackened off its commitment in that regard. We should keep a watching brief on such things.
Finally, the European and External Relations Committee is also considering an inquiry that would include that issue. We are keen to see how other European member states deliver and charge for such services—broadband speeds and mobile roaming—in order to look at the broader picture. We are also interested in how local government in Scotland is participating in the roll-out of broadband, and we are keen to understand how other local authorities around Europe do it. There is a role for local government, which you might want to keep an eye on as things develop.
Thank you for that. Some folk would say that our committee does not deal with a huge amount of those issues but, as you rightly pointed out, in terms of digital inclusion and the use of new technologies by local authorities and other public bodies, we do have an interest and should keep a watching brief.
Do we ask the European and External Relations Committee to keep us updated on its progress? I am sure that, as members of that committee, Willie Coffey and Clare Adamson will do just that. Clare Adamson is shaking her head because she is no longer a member of that committee. Let us write to the convener for regular updates. It will be extremely useful, and our successor committee might want to consider those matters in more depth.
Having also been a member of the Education and Culture Committee, I think that it would be good if the Local Government and Regeneration Committee could have some updated information on the progress of the Comenius programme. Given that local government delivers education, it is important for us to know how well that programme is working in Europe.
There may be a remit issue here—but the clerk assures me that we can do that, too. Are members in agreement?
Members indicated agreement.
Grand. The next meeting of the committee will be on Wednesday 30 September in committee room 2 at 10 o’clock.
Meeting closed at 11:29.Previous
Fact-finding Visit (Manchester)