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The next item is our regular scrutiny of Council of the EU meetings. There are no pre-council agendas to consider and we have received two of the five council reports that we were expecting. One of the reports that is marked as outstanding—relating to the general affairs and external relations council—was received too late to be added to the papers for today, so we will consider it at our next meeting.
The matter is dealt with on page 13 of the briefing paper, EU/S2/05/19/4. I have been pursuing the issue on behalf of a constituent who wants the threshold for access to small-claims courts in Scotland to be brought into line with the threshold in England. I know that the Executive's intention was to move in that direction and to raise the threshold so that more consumers who have bought fairly inexpensive items that go wrong can access the small-claims procedures.
The issue was on-going when I started as Minister for Justice, which was five years ago.
That is probably correct—you will know the issue well, Jim. I know that ministers are still wrestling with the matter and trying to find a solution. A decision that would allow more Scottish consumers access to small-claims courts is years overdue. I was hoping that the regulation that is mentioned in our briefing, which would establish a European framework, might get the fat out of the fire. Perhaps the clerks could clarify that issue.
The clerks will pursue further information on that issue.
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