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The next item on our agenda is the implementation of European Community legislation. We have received letters on the end-of-life vehicles directive and the statutory instrument on organic products, which the Executive is allowing to be introduced across Great Britain. Is the committee happy that both those pieces of legislation should go through London?
I am—and I say that as someone who is sometimes hesitant about using Westminster overmuch. Even though I sit on the Labour benches, I am sometimes a little uneasy about using Westminster for Scottish matters. However, the explanation given in our papers is okay for me.
Do we know what line the Environment and Rural Development Committee is taking?
No. I feel that we might want to ask questions on the organic products SI, but that should be for the Environment and Rural Development Committee.
I think that members are saying that this committee is content. We can only really answer for ourselves; if the Environment and Rural Development Committee has any issues to raise, I am sure that it will raise them.
Is there a mechanism by which another committee can keep our clerks informed if it is unhappy?
Our clerks are nodding, so the answer is yes.
Before we do so, I want to ask about correspondence with ministers. Obviously, Andy Kerr has yet to get back to you on the fisheries control agency. I imagine that correspondence will arrive during the recess and will be included among our papers for the next meeting. It does not matter much, I suppose.
On correspondence, it is worth noting that, although we received a letter from Andy Kerr on the location of EU agencies, which we discussed at the previous meeting, another agency—the EU defence agency—was discussed by Brussels but was not mentioned in the Executive's correspondence, which is surprising. There was no mention of it in the Executive's response on the issue. I suggest that, for the time being, we simply note the matter, because we have agreed to discuss EU agencies as a separate agenda item after the summer recess. We can raise the issue at that point; I simply wanted to make members aware of it.
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