Enterprise and Culture Committee, 23 Jan 2007

Meeting date: Tuesday, January 23, 2007

Official Report 298KB pdf

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European Union Legislation (Gold Plating)

Agenda item 3 is on the gold plating of European Union legislation. A paper on a report on gold plating in Europe that was prepared for the European and External Relations Committee has been circulated. There are four recommendations at the end of it. Do members have any views on the paper?

The third bullet point on page 3 of paper EC/S2/07/3/4 mentions

"mechanisms that will ensure MSPs are more informed about Executive plans to gold plate legislation".

We should qualify that sentence by saying "any Executive plans" instead of only "Executive plans", as there is an implicit and probably unreasonable assumption that the plans will be carried out.

This subject is close to Murdo Fraser's heart.

It is. Jim Wallace's report is interesting. He does not state in his conclusions whether he thinks that gold plating exists, but he implies that it exists in certain areas.

The examples are particularly interesting. In paragraphs 11 and 12, Jim Wallace draws attention to the waste incineration directive, which was transposed in identical terms but interpreted differently throughout the UK. The Scottish Executive—or the appropriate agency—applied the definition more rigorously than the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, which took a more relaxed view. Although the wording was the same in both cases, the burden on Scottish businesses was greater than the burden on businesses south of the border. That important point should not be missed. Would it be possible to refer to that in our comments?

How would you like to refer to it? Should we state that it illustrates the fact that, in deciding how rigorously to interpret things, we should benchmark ourselves against what others are doing—something along those lines?

Yes. It is not just a question of the wording of directives and how they are transposed. It is a question of how they are dealt with by Government agencies.

Yes. We should benchmark ourselves to make sure that we do not put ourselves at a competitive disadvantage.

Yes—and that we have a level playing field.

And not just within the UK.

Yes—across Europe. Is everyone happy with that?

Yes. As Murdo Fraser says, what is important is not just the wording in the legislation but how it is interpreted locally. I remember local butchers and all kinds of people lobbying me on the directive. It was a disgrace.

Is everyone happy with the recommendations in the paper, subject to Murdo Fraser's amendment?

And mine.

Members indicated agreement.

Thank you. We meet again in three weeks.

Meeting closed at 16:52.