European and External Relations Committee, 14 Mar 2006

Meeting date: Tuesday, March 14, 2006

Official Report 253KB pdf

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Work Programme

Item 4 is consideration of the committee's work programme. Following the evidence given at our previous meeting by the Minister for Finance and Public Service Reform on the Executive's EU priorities, it seems appropriate that the committee should agree its work programme for the final 14 months of the session. The clerks have prepared paper EU/S2/06/4/4, which has been circulated, setting out the committee's discussions on the issue so far, ahead of the visit to Brussels next Monday and Tuesday, during which we will receive briefings on a number of important matters on the European agenda.

I intend to revisit this at our next meeting, on 28 March, following the Brussels visit. The clerks will prepare an options paper for that meeting, taking into account not only the discussions that take place in Brussels but the views that we have previously expressed on potential areas of further work. In addition, the clerks will draft a paper for a future meeting on the wider issue of how we integrate our scrutiny of the Executive's priorities into our future work programme.

The discussion is not about suggesting areas of further work. Members have previously suggested a large number of items of extra work, many of which are still relevant. Rather, its purpose is to generate ideas about how the committee wants to organise its work programme for the remainder of the session, so that that can be taken into account in the clerk's paper for 28 March.

Do members have any comments to make on the outline that is set out in annex A?

It seems sensible, although we have not yet had a discussion this week on petition PE804, so I remain open minded on that issue. I presume that we will programme in updates from Jim Wallace and Dennis Canavan and continue to keep a watching eye on issues that have been highlighted in the Commission's work programme.

The paper for this item incorporates the committee's priorities, the Executive's priorities and scrutiny of the Commission. Are members content to note the paper?

Members indicated agreement.