Official Report 175KB pdf
Agenda item 3 is the Scottish Government's response to the committee's report on its inquiry into the transposition of European Union directives. Members have received the papers. Are there any comments?
I agree with the clerks' recommendations, but the response is a little obtuse in places. It might just as well have said, "We'll think about these things when we publish our draft document." Basically, that is all it says. I was especially confused by the response to our suggestion on having a single point of contact. The response seems to be, "This is impractical—but we have a single point of contact." That was a bit strange.
Is that point additional to what the clerks have said?
Not really—it is just a comment. I am sure that the Government will pick it up from the Official Report of this meeting. It just seems strange that there seems to be a single point of contact in the European division, but the Government is saying that it could not provide a single point of contact for transposition issues.
The response that I found most interesting—the clerks have flagged it up—is that the Government
I want to return to the issue of the single point of contact. The point is that there will not be another central point of contact for implementation, because there is already a central point of contact that covers all aspects of European policy. That is the point, although it might have been better worded.
Yes, it might have been.
It may be that some of the issues that we raise will come down to wording. If so, they will perhaps be clarified.
The clerks have picked up on the key areas on which we need clarification. I therefore agree with the recommendations.
Okay, thank you.