Official Report 139KB pdf
Members have briefing paper EU/S2/05/02/2, which contains the various papers for scrutiny. Annex A contains the summary of recommendations. For two of the meetings, we are still awaiting pre-council agendas from the Executive, but we have a report from three of the meetings.
It is worth while noting the progress that was made at the December fisheries council, in particular the fact that the UK delegation rejected unjustified and unscientific proposals to close large areas of the North sea to all fishing. In the past, we have been critical of what has happened at the fisheries council, so it is right to acknowledge good news when it emerges.
Hear, hear.
No dissension.
My goodness, no dissension at all from Phil Gallie. We should capture this moment for posterity.
From what we heard from the Luxembourg ambassador the other day, it seems that the stability and growth pact will be a major aspect of Luxembourg's presidency. I note the information that the Scottish Executive has provided us with, but I wonder about the implications for us of activity on the stability and growth pact, given that we are excluded from the economic side at the very least.
Obviously, there is a relationship between the stability and growth pact and the overall financial framework. The debates might not be on the same grounds, but they will have similar influences and effects. The central point that I took from the address by the Luxembourg ambassador last week was that a fundamental priority of not only the Luxembourg presidency but the UK presidency will be to resolve the financial framework issues. Monitoring progress on that in the months to come would be quite meaningful. We will have to watch this space.