Official Report 384KB pdf
Good morning and welcome to the seventh meeting of the European and External Relations Committee in 2014. I make the usual request for mobile phones and any other electronic equipment that could interfere with the broadcasting system to be switched off.
Apologies have been received from Hanzala Malik, who is still unwell. We wish him a speedy recovery. We welcome back Patricia Ferguson, who is attending in Hanzala’s place.
There are only two agenda items today, the first of which is consideration of the “Brussels Bulletin”. I invite questions, comments or requests for clarification from members.
My attention is drawn to my favourite subject: the digital agenda. Members will see on page 5 the commentary on the €1 billion fund for connecting Europe. As we know, that sum was substantially reduced from the original intended spend of about €9 billion. I see that €150 million of that money has been earmarked specifically for broadband, while the other €850 million has been earmarked for other projects.
How does the European Union plan to improve connectivity and infrastructure with such a reduced budget? I, for one, would appreciate more detail on the whole agenda to get a wider perspective on what is happening with broadband speeds, connectivity and plans for infrastructure investment in the various member states. It is just getting a wee bit more difficult to see the broader picture.
I suggest that we request a more detailed briefing.
That would be really helpful.
The paragraph on page 3 on culture, tourism and sport, which are areas in which I have a particular interest, makes the more general point that, as the United Kingdom seems to be recognised as a leader in practice in those three areas, it
“could drive the EU agenda in”
them. Ironically, however,
“it may stand to gain less from EU action than other Member States.”
That is an interesting point in relation to other areas of interest in Europe, and it is worth noting and perhaps considering in the future.
Willie Coffey is right to continue to pursue his particular interest. I thought that he might be interested to know that Glasgow will shortly become a free wi-fi city, which shows that initiatives can come from many places. Perhaps we need to take a broader look at such things. Another committee—I think that it might be the Infrastructure and Capital Investment Committee—is currently looking at the subject, and it might be useful to have a dialogue with it.
In the section on civil judicial co-operation, the “Brussels Bulletin” suggests that the European small claims procedure was
“not well known or used.”
That is probably right. I would not mind knowing a bit more about that procedure myself.
What page is that on?
It is on page 3. The paragraph starts, “On civil judicial cooperation”.
Would you like that point noted, or do you want some further information on it?
I would not mind getting some brief information on it.
Okay—we can do that.
The “News in brief” section contains a paragraph headed “Renewable Energy Subsidies” that begins, “Several Member States”. On page 4 of the bulletin, where the heading is repeated, it says that
“Several Member States are seeking the revision of the European Commission’s draft guidelines on state aid to the energy sector”,
and then mentions that the group of member states
“includes the UK, Germany, Denmark, the Netherlands and France”.
Obviously, those countries have been member states for a very long time. Would it be possible to get further information on what the perceived difficulties are? I think that the issue is important, but the bulletin does not tell us why that group of member states is upset about it.
Page 5 of the bulletin contains some bullet points on issues that might be of concern. However, more detail on those would be helpful.
It would be for me.
Following my colleague Willie Coffey’s comments about the digital agenda, I note that in the “Education, Youth, Culture and Sport Council” section, the bulletin mentions
“the incorporation of digital forms of learning into mainstream education”.
If we are going to have a further briefing on digital issues, I would like to hear a bit about social inclusion and how we combat the difficulties that are experienced in rural areas. For example, the bulletin says that
“one in four cannot make full use of a computer.”
That might be more to do with the impact of poverty on digital inclusion.
That ties in nicely with Citizens Advice Scotland’s on-going investigation into digital exclusion. This is happening not just in rural areas, but to people in areas of multiple deprivation who have to claim benefits, fill in forms and so on online, but who do not have the ability to do so.
The page after the section headed “Employment and Social Developments” contains a list of some of the key findings of the latest employment and social developments in Europe review, one of which is that
“Jobseekers receiving unemployment benefits are more likely to get a job than those who are not.”
Some of the sanctions that are part of the current welfare reforms are having an impact on people getting jobs. As I am obviously new to the committee, I do not know whether we can consider employment, particularly youth employment and youth unemployment, and the funds that are available to organisations for training and skills, but we could pick up what is in the review and other clear issues around poverty and the link with unemployment.
In the past, we have kept an eye on the youth employment guarantee scheme, which the UK Government has not yet signed up to. It is a credible topic for the committee to consider. Although, as I have said, we have been keeping a general eye on it, we could focus on it more after we have finished with the referendum stuff.
We have mentioned European welfare arrangements before—or at least I have done so. The “Brussels Bulletin” says that
“some Member States, such as Bulgaria ... do not have any standard safety net protection”
for the unemployed, and I wonder whether we could get an assessment of how welfare benefits across the European Union pan out.
That might be a bit of work for the Scottish Parliament information centre; in fact, we could commission some work from it on all these topics. That information could then be fed back into the committee, and we could decide which areas to pursue. Would that be okay?
Yes.
As there are no further comments, questions or clarifications, are members happy to make all the topics that we have discussed this morning, as well as the “Brussels Bulletin” as a whole, available to the relevant subject committees?
Members indicated agreement.