European Committee, 15 Jan 2002

Meeting date: Tuesday, January 15, 2002

Official Report 133KB pdf

---

Convener's Report

I have three small items on which to report. The first is the letter to the Spanish permanent representative in Brussels on the postal services liberalisation. Members will recall that we discussed the matter. I am asking the committee to agree the content of the letter. It is similar to the letter sent to the Belgian presidency. Are we agreed?

Members indicated agreement.

The second item is to ask members to note that we have secured time in the chamber to debate our report on the future governance of the EU. I mentioned that briefly to the committee in private session. The debate will be on Wednesday 27 February. Is the committee agreed that the clerk and I should make the necessary arrangements?

Members indicated agreement.

The third item is about our annual trip to Brussels. The suggested dates for the trip are 25 to 26 February or 27 February to 1 March. We chose that week to coincide with the mini plenary session. Obviously, there is a problem because that is the same week that we are scheduled to debate the EU governance report in the chamber.

I asked the clerks to consider whether we could make the trip during the following week. Although there will not be a mini plenary session of the European Parliament, my understanding is that the committees and the political groups will be meeting and members of the Parliament and commissioners will be there. I also understand that a group of Scottish schoolchildren—one from each local authority area—will attend the European Parliament on those two days. It might be useful for us to meet those young people.

Everyone will have a preference and it will be difficult to take everyone's preferences into account. The clerk and I will make the arrangements. If anyone has a difficulty, we will do our best to accommodate it. I would prefer the week starting 4 March, as that would give us time for the debate on our governance report in the chamber. The other dates that are suggested would require us to rush out on a Monday and return on a Tuesday for a debate in the chamber on a Wednesday, or to leave on the Wednesday night after debating the governance report and return on a Friday, which can be a dead day in Brussels.

I have a problem with 4 March, because the other committee that I am a member of is having an away day then.

That date—4 March—is a Monday. We could consider leaving on Tuesday 5 March or Wednesday 6 March, but we would have to speak to business managers about that and consider the implications.

The convener will know from the committee's previous visit that the Strasbourg week is sometimes better. Would that fit our timetable?

I think that the Strasbourg session is in the week following the week starting 4 March. If people were minded to go then, I would not have a problem with that. The advantage of the Strasbourg week is that everyone—commissioners, MEPs and lobby groups—is in Strasbourg at the same time. It is a good opportunity to meet everyone. If committee members were interested in that, the clerks could consider the implications. I am aware that the time scale is tight and that we need to make a decision quite quickly.

Are we going to Brussels and Strasbourg?

It would not make sense to go to Brussels in a Strasbourg week, because most people—even officials—will be in Strasbourg for the plenary session.

I did not make the suggestion to cause problems, but we have discussed the issue and I know that when everyone is pinned down in Strasbourg, we can meet more people and get more done than when we scuttle from building to building in Brussels.

Certainly, everyone is in the same place at the same time, which has advantages.

Is the Strasbourg week the week starting 11 March?

Yes. I think that that is the March Strasbourg session, which lasts two or three days. I suggest that we consider that possibility, with a fallback position of the week starting 4 March, trying to take account of Nora Radcliffe's problem. If we cannot make the travel arrangements and so on for Strasbourg, I suggest that we consider going to Brussels on 4 March. Is that agreed?

Members indicated agreement.

As agreed at the beginning of the meeting, we will take our final agenda item—the work programme—in private. I thank the public for attending.

Meeting continued in private until 15:04.