Official Report 206KB pdf
[The Convener opened the meeting at 14:02]
Good afternoon. I convene the 11th meeting in 2005 of the European and External Relations Committee. I have received an apology for absence from Phil Gallie, who is attending the Edinburgh Tram (Line One) Bill Committee and has a mandatory obligation to be there. Iain Smith has advised me that he will be leaving early.
I shall be leaving early, but I would like to raise a matter of which I gave you prior notice. At the previous meeting, there was an exchange between myself and Mr Gallie on the European Parliament debate on the working time directive, in which Mr Gallie suggested that Liberal Democrat MEPs did not vote in favour of retaining the UK opt-out. I have since checked the voting records of the European Parliament and can confirm that no Liberal Democrat MEP voted against retaining the working time directive and that those who voted on the amendments voted in favour of retaining the UK opt-out. I would be grateful if that could be put on the record for Mr Gallie's information.
It is duly on the record and I am sure that Mr Gallie will study it. Whether that means that he will not say it again is a different matter altogether, but it is on the record anyway.