European Committee, 23 Nov 1999

Meeting date: Tuesday, November 23, 1999

Official Report 221KB pdf

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Convener's Report

First, Sylvia Jackson will report on the meeting with a delegation from the Swedish Parliament.

Winnie Ewing, Margo MacDonald and Maureen Macmillan were also present. It was a most useful meeting. There was no heavy debate on any particular issue, but it was nice to talk about issues that we share, such as domestic violence, offenders and drug issues, and to get another perspective on those issues.

It was also nice to see the political mix within the delegation. Does Eugene want to say anything? Secretarial support came with the group, but I do not know what ideas were exchanged. Overall, it was a useful and interesting meeting.

Thank you.

They were going on an intensive tour of the Highlands after the meeting.

Very good.

Winnie, the next report is on the meeting with Prince William of Orange.

Oh, it was absolutely wonderful. [Laughter.] He is Adonis—and the most eligible bachelor in Europe. He was very pleased with me because I speak Dutch, which is my secret weapon. I was a student at The Hague Academy of International Law and I once had a Dutch boyfriend, which was a good incentive. I had a long chat with the prince, who is an amazingly talented fellow in terms of sport: he flies planes and is an Olympic person. His English was absolutely perfect.

The joy of it was that every person in Scotland of Dutch connections was there, plus, I think, people from London. I did not realise that my old friend from the European Parliament, Jack Stewart Clark, would be there with his Dutch wife. He tried to act for the whole Conservative party in Scotland when it had no MEPs. I had not realised that he spoke fluent Dutch as well. It was an interesting meeting, and wonderful hospitality.

It was certainly a cultural experience for Prince William of Orange as well. [Laughter.] Thank you.

At our next meeting, I suggest that we consider submissions on the Fisheries Council, which will meet on 16 and 17 December. We need to get the industry's thoughts on the agenda of the council's meeting. We could do that in two ways: either we consider written submissions from the industry at our next meeting, which we could then take forward to the Scottish Executive, or we ask a committee member, such as Tavish Scott, to contact industry representatives and bring back a synopsis of their views to the next meeting.

Following the Fisheries Council meeting, I would like to have a report back from the Scottish Executive, to establish the principle that, if it is relevant to this committee, the Executive should come back to let us know exactly what was discussed. I am open to suggestions.

I agree with your position, convener. That meeting is usually the most important Fisheries Council meeting of the year. The agenda shows that it is a crunch meeting.

The principle that you wish to establish is right, convener. After John Home Robertson came back from his first Fisheries Council meeting, he said that he was open to the suggestion of appearing before the relevant committees. You might want to consider meeting the convener of the Rural Affairs Committee, to ensure that there is a tie-in between the two committees. We need to be on the ball and we should take submissions from the industry. There is nothing as important as this meeting for many of our areas.

I could invite members of the Rural Affairs Committee to our next meeting.

As I said, there are two ways of approaching this issue—one is to ask for written submissions and the other is to ask a committee member to co-ordinate responses. What is your view, Tavish?

Gulp—I will happily co-ordinate that, if that is the committee's wish.

Are members agreed?

Members indicated agreement.

Give him forestry if he says no.

I will invite members of the Rural Affairs Committee to the next meeting.

It would be a good idea to ask the Executive to report back as well. It might be helpful to ask the Executive to report activity proactively to the committee. As there is no individual minister for European matters, it is quite difficult to pick up what the Executive has been doing.

We will try to schedule that item on to the agenda, but it will probably be taken at a meeting early in the new year. Is that agreed?

Members indicated agreement.

I have one further item to report to members. It appears that the objective 3 plan will not be ready in time for our next meeting. Therefore, we may need to schedule a meeting between then and Christmas to consider the plan. The alternative is for us to get the plan at short notice, an experience that we have been through before and that I do not think is acceptable. Members need plenty of time to consider the plan. We will come back to this issue when I have further information, which I hope will be by the next meeting.

Could the committee make a decision one way or the other on what is happening on the East of Scotland European Consortium conference? We need to make other plans if we are not going to attend.

Stephen Imrie will speak to people individually about that at the end of, rather than during, the meeting. I thank everyone for attending.

Meeting closed at 15:56.