European and External Relations Committee

Meeting date: Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Official Report 475KB pdf

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European Union Budget Review

Members will recall that the committee published a report on our inquiry into the EU budget review. There is a possibility that the Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Sustainable Growth will be able to attend our meeting on 14 December to discuss the issue. Our work was a little ahead of the game. The European Commission has produced a communication on the budget. In the Parliament and in the Conveners Group we have talked a lot recently about how we produce reports but do not do enough follow-up work to ascertain whether anyone is following through on the recommendations. Given that the cabinet secretary might be available—we can double check—and that the Commission has published a proposal, it might be useful to speak to the cabinet secretary and his team about taking our work forward. Do members agree?

Members indicated agreement.