Official Report 514KB pdf
Item 3 is a report from the Committee of the Regions. As members know, two members of the Scottish Parliament are Committee of the Regions representatives: Stewart Maxwell and Patricia Ferguson, who take turn about to compile reports. This report was compiled by Patricia Ferguson and is paper EU/S4/14/23/1. Do members have comments on or queries about the report?
The agendas for that committee’s meetings were extensive and interesting. I note that they have included a number of subjects that have come up in this committee, including climate and energy, the transatlantic trade and investment partnership, the blue economy—development of the potential of our seas—reconnecting Europe with its citizens, and information and communications technology.
I wonder whether Patricia Ferguson can give us detail about the Committee of the Regions’s deliberations and the discussions that took place. We might benefit from that, so perhaps we should seek more information.
We can ask about specific items. Are you talking about the issues that are currently of interest to this committee?
The issues that occurred to me are those that have come up in this committee. Other members might be interested in other areas. I think that 40-odd items were covered during the two plenary meetings, but we have only the agendas. I wonder what happened during the discussions and whether Patricia Ferguson can give us information about thinking and plans on certain issues. I am sure that that would be of benefit to the committee, if it is possible.
I think so.
In our papers, under the heading, “Justice and Home Affairs”, I note that the European Parliament’s
“Women’s Rights and Gender Equality Committee called for more EU-level action on gender violence”,
and that a new strategy will be published in 2015.
The Council of Europe—which is an arm of the convention, as it were—has adopted the Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence, or Istanbul convention. It would be helpful if the committee could have a brief summary of the convention. We could consider the overlap between what is happening in the European Union and what is happening here on gender violence. It is an interesting area.
Are there any other comments on the Committee of the Regions report? We are looking for additional information on decisions and discussions.
I might at some future time want to suggest to the committee that we explore gender violence, but we need more information on it first.
Okay. Thank you. Are there any other comments?
Does the committee have meetings with Patricia Ferguson and Stewart Maxwell, as representatives on the Committee of the Regions?
We invite them to report in person, but on most occasions that has not been practicable for them, because they are on other committees that meet at the same time as this committee. That is why we wanted a report. Willie Coffey made the pertinent point that it is good to have the Committee of the Regions’s agenda, but it would also be good to know what contributions were made and what happened.
In relation to TTIP, for example, which we are considering, it might have been interesting if one of the members had come along to this committee to give us a flavour of the debate in Europe in the Committee of the Regions. That might inform what we do.
We will continue with our inquiry on TTIP well into the new year, so we might be able to do that. We could get that in written evidence or, as you suggest, the members might be able to come to the committee to give us a flavour of what is happening at the Committee of the Regions. That is a good idea.
It would be particularly interesting to hear how people are responding to the issue at sub-state level.
Yes—the cities and regions.
I agree that one of the members of the Committee of the Regions should really be here to assist us so that we can get a flavour, as Adam Ingram rightly pointed out. Next time, perhaps we could extend an invitation to them saying that somebody’s presence would be appreciated.
We always invite them, but we will impress that point on them to make it clearer.
Please do. It is unreasonable for us to try to extract from the report the actual flavour of what is being done, what difficulties, if any, the members faced and how we could assist them to maximise the effect of what they do. We want to get something from them, but they could get something from us, so it would be two-way traffic.
Okay.
I notice that each of the items that has been considered has a rapporteur associated with it. Are we entitled to make contact with those people to ask them for their summation? That would give us more of a European perspective on what took place, which would be helpful for the committee.
That is a good idea. We can definitely ask.
Are members happy to circulate the report to relevant parliamentary committees, highlighting some of the points that we have pulled out?
Members indicated agreement.
That reinforces the view that it would be really useful for the members of the Committee of the Regions to attend. Any input that could be added to the report would be a more useful tool for other parliamentary committees than just the bland report, as it is.
Okay. Thank you.