Official Report 516KB pdf
Good morning and welcome to the 18th meeting in 2014 of the European and External Relations Committee. I make the usual request for mobile phones and other electronic devices to be switched off, unless members are using their iPads for meeting papers. We have received apologies from Jamie McGrigor, and his substitute will not be joining us, either.
Item 1 is the “Brussels Bulletin”. Members will note that the latest edition is detailed and contains some interesting things. There are obviously lots of changes going on at Europe level right now, with commissioners being interviewed and different strands, strategies and policies emerging. Are there any questions, comments or queries on the “Brussels Bulletin”?
My attention was drawn to the information on page 2 about the appointment of the commissioners. We can see that they will be concentrating their efforts on some clear and focused themes and projects including jobs, growth, investment, and the connected digital single market. As you know, convener, I am particularly interested in how that develops in the European Union and how it might affect Scotland. Will there be an opportunity for us to do a little bit more work on that so that we can understand exactly what the commissioners’ roles and remits might be with regard to the digital single market? I think that that would be useful work for the committee to engage with.
That is exactly the point that I wanted to make. The digital industry is a favourite subject for both me and Willie Coffey. It is high time that we tried to roll out as much of it as we can. I am with Willie Coffey on that point; it should certainly be a priority for us.
I have a comment on the European Commission’s selection process. Observing the possible candidates, I am struck that there is not a gender balance, to say the least. I wonder whether that is something that we can look into, to discover what equalities mechanisms, if any, are used in proposing the commissioners.
Indeed; that is something that piqued my interest as well.
It is a comprehensive bulletin, but I have lost the thread as to exactly where we are with Lord Hill’s hearings. Could the clerk update us on Lord Hill’s current position?
We can get an update on that.
I am interested in whether Lord Hill will have the financial services brief. I am particularly interested in progress on the fourth money laundering directive, so anything that we could find out about that would be of interest to me, personally.
I have a quick comment on Willie Coffey’s question. A few ideas were brought up in last week’s discussion at our business planning day about our work programme, so we are working through the proposals and hope to have something that will meet with your satisfaction.
I notice that the bulletin also mentions one or two awards to support transport infrastructure projects in Scotland. It is a great report, but it would be really helpful if there was from time to time a summary page of awards that are made to Scotland. Our late friend and colleague Helen Eadie used to raise questions about keeping an eye on what awards Scotland was or was not receiving. Such a summary would be useful. The suggestion relates to Jamie McGrigor’s comment last week about strengthening the case for being in Europe and being able to demonstrate and articulate the advantages that being in Europe brings. A lot of good work goes into the bulletin, but it can be useful to summarise the awards from various programmes and their value to Scotland. It would be lovely if you could make contact with whoever compiles the bulletin, convener, to ask whether that is possible.
We can do that with Scotland Europa, which brings together quite a bit of work—I expect the bulletin to get more and more hefty over the next few months, as key themes and policy emerge from the European Commission and the European Parliament. A summary would complement the six-monthly update that we get from the Scottish Government on where the structural funds come from and where the money is spent.
The comments about the Erasmus student programme’s impact are encouraging. It appears that graduates of the programme are far less likely than students who have not studied abroad to experience long-term unemployment.
I was also encouraged to read that the new employment commissioner will have a remit to look at labour mobility. The idea that people moving around Europe for jobs is a bad thing is not borne out by the evidence, and it is interesting to keep an eye on the topic.
You are quite right. The issue is a key area of interest for the Italian presidency. We will hear from the Italian ambassador later this morning, so we might start to investigate the issue then.
Members will recall that we made great efforts to ensure that someone was in place who could help organisations to apply for European funding. I have not yet heard how the approach is progressing. Have organisations been assisted? Have they been successful in bidding for funding? I would like some feedback on that, perhaps at our next meeting.
Are you talking about a Scottish Government person? I think that we endeavoured to look into that before, did we not?
Yes. This committee was instrumental in the creation of the post, and it would be interesting to hear about progress.
We will hear from the Cabinet Secretary for Culture and External Affairs this morning on the EU strategy, so we could ask her.
I am not sure that she will have the detail, and I do not want to put her in a difficult position.
Yes. The issue is more likely to be in John Swinney’s portfolio.
I am happy to put her in a difficult position if you want me to do so, but I would rather not.
Okay.
Are members content to send the bulletin to subject committees, highlighting the points that we have raised?
Members indicated agreement.
Thank you.
09:08 Meeting suspended.