European Committee, 14 Dec 1999

Meeting date: Tuesday, December 14, 1999

Official Report 188KB pdf

---

Convener's Report

The next item on our agenda concerns the dates and times of future meetings. We have agreed that we will meet in Glasgow. We are still negotiating the availability of facilities. It has been suggested that meetings in Glasgow should take place on Monday afternoons rather than on Tuesdays, but I want to know why the facilities are not available at our regular time slot. As soon as the clerk has resolved that problem, we will return to the matter.

I want to ask about timetabling. I would have liked to have had on the agenda for the next meeting a discussion on today's announcement by the French Prime Minister, Lionel Jospin, concerning the potential lifting of at least 70 per cent of the beef ban. I would have liked to have been able to discuss that in some detail, but it will be too far down the track by the time we have that opportunity.

Given the importance of that statement about the exclusivity of grass-fed cattle in this country, which affects 70 per cent of the Scottish herd, I request that you, as our convener, write to the Executive, asking that a statement be made tomorrow in Parliament on that specific issue. It is in the European arena, and it is tremendously important that the European Committee has an understanding of the Executive's position.

I share your concerns over the French Government's decision. There is also an issue for the Rural Affairs Committee to consider. By the time we could consider the matter, we would be some way down the line. I would not want to engage in a knee-jerk reaction, by saying that a statement must be made to the Parliament tomorrow, as I am not sure what the Executive is considering. I am not sure whether Jack McConnell would have been able to answer that.

I undertake to write to the Executive, to indicate that we have concerns and to ask that, at the first opportunity, the Executive report back to us. I am not sure that it would be appropriate for us to demand that that issue be debated tomorrow. In any case, the item is not on the agenda. I shall write to the Executive at the end of this meeting.

I want to come in on that.

I do not want to get into a discussion on that, as we have clear guidelines on putting items on the agenda. We have already addressed the issue, and I have said that I will write to the Executive, but I do not want to enter into a wider discussion on the matter.

This may appear a tangential issue, but it goes to the heart of the way in which we see ourselves in relation to European institutions.

I have already said what I will do, and I want to move on. I will deal with the matter by writing to the Executive on behalf of the committee. We will not have a general discussion on the subject at the moment.

Could you ask in that letter whether it would be possible to have a statement on the matter, either tomorrow or the day after?

I have made clear the terms in which I shall write to the Executive; I shall express the committee's general concerns.

At the next meeting, we will return to the issue of the venue.

During which week will that be?

That depends. We have a slot for 11 January, but the first date on which the facilities in Glasgow will be available is the following Monday. However, I said to Stephen Imrie that it is not acceptable to take us out of our Tuesday routine. We may have to meet on Tuesday 18 January, when the facilities will be available. I suggest that we cancel our meeting on 11 January and aim for a meeting in the week beginning 17 January, which will probably mean that we will have meetings two weeks in a row after that.

Do members have any requests for further briefings?

I have one further suggestion. It has been pencilled in that the Local Government Committee will have an extra meeting. Can we ask Stephen Imrie to check whether that will clash with other meetings? Today's meeting has clashed with another meeting for Maureen Macmillan and me.

We will certainly check that.

The clerks have arranged for tea, coffee and Christmas mince pies to be available in the tea room after the meeting. To those who are unable to wait, I wish a happy Christmas and a good new year.

Meeting closed at 15:16.