European and External Relations Committee

Meeting date: Thursday, May 2, 2013

Official Report 524KB pdf

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“Brussels Bulletin”

We move on to the “Brussels Bulletin”, which has again been provided by Scotland Europa. I invite comments and questions. We might get a wee bit of feedback from the clerk Katy Orr on the previous edition.

Two weeks ago, we expressed our worry and concern about the situation involving Serbia and Kosovo. Mercifully, a resolution has been reached that provides great encouragement for the future. It is sufficient for the European Union to decide to begin to discuss Serbia’s accession to the EU, which is extremely encouraging.

Scotland has a particularly strong relationship with Serbia and Kosovo. Over the past few years, the Parliament has received delegations of people who have wanted to talk to us about issues such as those that are mentioned in the “Brussels Bulletin”, which include the promotion of “administrative capacities”. That does not sound particularly exciting, but it is fundamental to the development of those two countries.

The members of those delegations have been particularly interested in scrutiny and accountability, and how we hold our Governments and various bodies to account. Such capabilities and powers have been sadly lacking in those two countries over a number of years, for obvious reasons. It is in those areas that they need help from other member states, countries and partners that have long experience in such matters.

My experience as a member of the Public Audit Committee was that models and mechanisms of scrutiny were directly of interest to those countries, but I was never quite sure which model or mechanism it would be helpful to offer. It is extremely important for countries such as Serbia and Kosovo to be able to reach out and get such help, whether from Scotland or from other members of the European Union. I put that down as a marker. Perhaps we could take some advice on what we could do.

Looking to the future, it is positive that the European Union is now asking other member states to recognise Kosovo. Some member states do not yet recognise Kosovo. That stretches beyond member states to individual institutions. A small but important example is the fact that Kosovo is not yet permitted to take part in international football matches. FIFA does not recognise Kosovo as an independent country, so it cannot compete in football matches.

Such issues might be small, but they are extremely important to people who live in countries such as Kosovo. The Scotland team had a wonderful reception in Serbia—if a poor result—a few weeks ago. It is important that we make progress and try to support such countries on the journey on which they have embarked.

You are absolutely right. One of the strengths of having Katy Orr as clerk to the committee is her experience of the Balkans area when she was at the Commission. In last week’s discussion of our forward work programme, we proposed having an evidence session on Kosovo in the autumn. Given the interest that we all have in the developing situation, we would all find that valuable.

As I have said, Mr Coffey is absolutely right. The more interest we take in supporting our friends and neighbours, the better it will be for Scotland and Europe. A short paper will come to the committee to allow us to discuss how we take forward a mini inquiry or mini evidence session on what is happening in Kosovo and how we can facilitate some of the very reasonable things that have been highlighted. After all, this is not just about football; there are also the European athletics championships and many other cultural, educational and sporting things that we could facilitate, given our great experience at losing at football.

I think that the bulletin is good. However, I note an omission in the section on fisheries; there seems to be no report on the on-going row with Iceland over the mackerel and herring issue, about which there were meant to be sanctions. Given that the issue is vital to our pelagic fishermen in the north-east, I wonder whether we can get an update on the current position.

The clerk has just whispered in my ear that she will come back with an in-depth briefing on the situation—

It does not have to be too in-depth.

Indeed. For your interest, however, I can tell you that at the consular corps event I attended two weeks ago I met the UK ambassador to Iceland, who was going to Peterhead the very next day to speak to those on the trawlers and find out whether there might be any way of resolving the situation. When he asked me how he should handle the situation, I told him, “Be frank—because they will certainly be frank with you.”

I have not had an update on how that worked out, but that discussion and the very fact that the ambassador had come down from Reykjavik to go to Peterhead, speak to the trawlermen and their associations, and see whether some of the issues could be resolved gave me hope.

From memory, the last time we had a fisheries war with Iceland we lost.

As with the football.

I seek some clarification and information about the air quality section of the bulletin. The press has reported that Scotland still has a significant problem in this area, with Glasgow being one of the UK’s top air quality concerns, and the bulletin suggests that the Commission’s attention has now turned to “sea-based pollutants”.

Given our offshore industry lying off the coast of Scotland, our significant fishing fleet and the amount of imports and exports coming through Scottish airports, can we have an analysis of the impact that the extension of the national emission ceilings directive could have on Scotland and specifically its fishing fleet?

The clerk has indicated that we can do that.

On the EU’s education targets for those aged 30 to 34, the bulletin says:

“The UK has however not set a Europe 2020 education target with the Commission.”

Can we investigate whether the UK Government consulted the Scottish Government on this little education issue?

We will write to the relevant ministers.

I want to come back to Kosovo and other European countries that are facing difficulties, particularly with regard to democracy and the way in which the leaderships in, for example, Greece and Italy have been chosen, which has raised serious concerns. I appreciate that these are reserved matters, but I nevertheless feel that we can play a small role by putting in place friendship agreements and arranging friendly games or friendly sporting and cultural activities to show that we share interests with these countries as well as the hardship that they are going through.

Such activities might open up opportunities for those countries to do the same across Europe. I hope that that would build confidence in the European Union to take up the case sooner rather than later. It is a positive way of moving forward. We should look at our sporting agencies to see how they can support that activity.

11:15

On a point of clarification, I see that Croatia is finally joining the EU on 1 July. Does that mean that it will have to adopt the euro?

No, it will not have to adopt the euro. One condition for entry into the euro is that a country has to satisfy all the criteria in the exchange rate mechanism. I do not think that Croatia has entered into that. It has intimated that, for the time being, it will not adopt the euro. Bulgaria has decided the same. Although the euro is used widely there, there will not be a formal adoption of the euro, much like in some other countries such as Denmark.

Would those countries not have to adopt the euro eventually in order to be part of the eurozone?

Entry into the ERM is voluntary. A country volunteers to be in the ERM and a country that is not in the ERM cannot use the euro. Some countries, such as Montenegro, unilaterally adopted the euro but do not have it for the central bank set-up. Other countries in Europe have decided—

It is interesting.

There is no mechanism within any of the treaties to force countries to use the euro as their currency.

I have a supplementary comment about Hanzala Malik’s point about sporting links. He included Italy as one of the countries he is concerned about, and I want to put on the record my appreciation that the organisers of the six nations rugby tournament have decided to keep the women’s competition in the same frame as it has been in the past. There was talk about having a two-tier system, which might have impacted on Italy as one of the lowest performance teams in the tournament. Rugby is an important sport for the country and I am glad to see what is happening.

Duly noted. Are we finished with the “Brussels Bulletin”?

I have one final point, convener. I am happy with the way in which the report has been presented to us and I hope that we continue to follow this pattern. I do not think that we need to have a special meeting to discuss it unless there is some pressing issue that you think needs to be ironed out.

An e-mail is coming out that will explain the approach to the “Brussels Bulletin” a bit better so we can decide from there.

Is the committee content to ensure that other relevant committees receive the “Brussels Bulletin”?

Members indicated agreement.