European and External Relations Committee, 07 Jun 2005

Meeting date: Tuesday, June 7, 2005

Official Report 206KB pdf

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Sift

Item 3 is the sift of European Community and European Union documents and draft legislation. The first document is a green paper on financial services policy for 2005-10. I have a sense of déjà vu, as such were the issues that kept me awake at night when I worked in the financial services sector all those years ago. The issues in the green paper are of relevance to us and to the Enterprise and Culture Committee, in relation to the creation of a liberalised financial services market. That will obviously have an enormous impact on the financial services sector in Scotland. A consultation exercise is now under way and we should encourage the Enterprise and Culture Committee to be involved in that. We should also perhaps make Scottish Financial Enterprise aware of the issue. I am sure that it will know the relevance of it, but it would not do any harm to draw the matter to its attention.

There are also two papers relating to an EU drugs action plan for 2005-08, which is relevant to the Health Committee and the justice committees. We will refer those papers to those committees.

The final paper is a communication from the Commission to the Council and the European Parliament, setting out the Commission's 10 priorities over the next five years in the areas of freedom, security and justice under the Hague multiannual programme. That is of relevance to the justice committees and we will pass it to them.