European and External Relations Committee,

Meeting date: Tuesday, May 9, 2006

Official Report 318KB pdf

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Scottish Parliament European and External Relations Committee Tuesday 9 May 2006

[The Convener opened the meeting at 14:00]

Good afternoon and welcome to the seventh meeting this year of the European and External Relations Committee. I remind everyone that today is Europe day, so it is appropriate that we have a meeting this afternoon. I thought that I would ask Mr Gallie to lead us off with a rendition of the European anthem.

"Scots, wha hae"—

Well done.

I want to comment on the our voice in Europe youth forum that was held on Sunday and yesterday, when young people from schools all over Scotland came to the Parliament to discuss democracy, dialogue and debate. It was a super event that was run jointly by the Parliament and the Executive, which will inform the findings of the project on building a bridge between Europe and its citizens. The two days were excellent and I certainly learned a great deal from the sixth-year pupils who attended. It is worth having a look at the information that is provided on the Parliament's website.

I indicated at an early stage that I was interested in the forum and keen to participate in it. Regrettably, when I finally managed to obtain a programme—on the day before the event was due to start—I found that I would have been able to participate only as an observer. My understanding is that the European and External Relations Committee is the parliamentary body that is responsible for considering external relations and European matters, so it is a shame that members of the committee were not fully involved in the running of the forum. I am sure that it was an excellent event and I welcome the fact that it represented an attempt to bridge the gap with young people, but on such occasions people from all sides of the European debate should be invited to present their views and I felt that that was not the case with the forum.

It might help Phil Gallie not to feel left out if I tell him that I volunteered to do a workshop on the Monday—yesterday—but the organisers did not take up my offer.

The nerve of them.

That proves that it was nothing personal. I can assure Mr Gallie that he was not prevented from participating because of his views on Europe.

The convener is right—the forum was a great idea. Going to such events makes one realise that young people are highly enthusiastic about becoming involved in Europe and the European project. That said, I have some sympathy with Phil Gallie's point in that, as committee members, we were all asked if we would be able to participate and, like Mr Gallie, I volunteered my services. However, I noticed from the programme that the committee as such was not involved.

I will ask that your justified concerns be passed on to the organisers of the two-day event—the Parliament's external liaison unit and the Executive. Perhaps we will ask them to build a bridge with the committee, as well as outwardly.

We can ask no more than that. I thank the convener and Irene Oldfather.

Before we move on to agenda item 1, I inform members that we will not be able to hold the videoconference that we planned to have with Professor John Bachtler of the University of Strathclyde as part of our structural funds inquiry. It has proved impossible to sort out the logistics, so we will look for another slot in which to hear from the professor.