European and External Relations Committee, 07 Jun 2005

Meeting date: Tuesday, June 7, 2005

Official Report 206KB pdf

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Pre and Post-council Scrutiny

Item 2 on the agenda is the briefing paper on pre and post-council scrutiny and analysis of European Union decisions.

I ask members to turn to annex A of the briefing paper, which sets out a summary of the different papers that have or have not been received at this time. Would anyone like to comment?

Phil Gallie is not here.

In the absence of Mr Gallie, let me assume the mantle. On the pre-council agenda relating to the agriculture and fisheries council, there is the suggestion of possible political agreement on a new rural development regulation, which has an impact on less favoured areas. With no disrespect meant to the civil servants of Scotland, there is a typically civil service phrase in the paper that states:

"the proposed deferment on definition until 2008 may not be unhelpful."

I do not know whether that writing would pass the Plain English Campaign, but I think that I understand what it means.

It means that it may be helpful.

Perhaps. I am not sure whether the Environment and Rural Development Committee has been involved in scrutiny of the issue, but I think that we should write to the Minister for Environment and Rural Development to ask for an update on where things stand immediately following the agriculture and fisheries council. That will be around the time of our next meeting.

Following on from the point that you have just raised, I would like to mention the reference to

"redefining ‘intermediate' Less Favoured Areas."

That could be of enormous interest in Scotland. I have no idea—

What it means.

I have no idea what it means, whether it has been defined or whether there are alternative definitions floating around. It might be useful to get some idea of what areas would be affected one way or another, because there may well be a number of marginal operations that employ people in fragile rural economies that could be quite severely affected by such changes. We need to be aware of that.

That is my reason for raising the issue. Large parts of my constituency and the constituencies of Margaret Ewing and John Home Robertson will be affected, and perhaps other areas too. I know that negotiations have been going on and I have certainly talked to NFU Scotland about it, but we need a more detailed understanding of which way it is going to settle, and the explanation provided does not exactly give us an idea of that.

It sounds as if the rough grazing has been kicked into the long grass.

It could be. We will get a response from the minister on that point.

I would like to draw attention to the pre-council agenda for the general affairs and external relations council on 13 and 14 June. That will obviously be an important meeting, given that it will set the agenda for the European Council. We have only one meeting of the committee left before the recess, and I want to put on record the fact that it is important to have a timeous post-council report to consider at that committee meeting. Otherwise, we may well be out of date and will be finding out about the results of that council only in September. It would obviously be helpful if we had an indication at our meeting on 21 June as to exactly what was agreed and what was left outstanding to be continued into the UK presidency.

You anticipate the far-sightedness of the convener and clerks of the committee. I have taken the liberty of inviting Tom McCabe to appear before the committee on 21 June to give us an update. My brief for today's meeting, which was written before yesterday's announcement, says that it will be an update on the European Union Bill, but we know what has happened to the European Union Bill. We would also like McCabe to update us on the outcome of the European Council meeting on 16 and 17 June, on the impact of the French and Dutch referenda, and on the UK presidency of the EU. We have yet to hear whether he is available to attend, but we hope to hear soon.

He could send the First Minister in his place.

We will come on to that as well.

In the same vein, I have also extended an invitation on behalf of the committee to the new Westminster Minister for Europe, Douglas Alexander, either to appear before the committee or to provide input as an ambassador of the incoming presidency by making a presentation to Parliament. Mr Alexander is keen to undertake that but, due to overseas commitments in June, he will be unable to do so. In the circumstances, we can understand why he is spending so much of his time in the air, but he is keen to do that in September.

There is an invitation for Tom McCabe to appear before the committee on 21 June, and I will obviously let members know if there is a positive reaction to that.