European and External Relations Committee,

Meeting date: Tuesday, May 25, 2004

Official Report 137KB pdf

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Scottish Executive (Scrutiny)

We move to pre and post-council scrutiny. I invite members to comment on the papers.

Can we go through them one by one?

You are the only member who has indicated that they have comments to make, so you may kick off.

My first comment relates to the agriculture and fisheries council. I want to know the detail of what the Executive is supporting in respect of regional management.

What management?

I point out that the matter was agreed yesterday. Perhaps we can return to it when we receive the post-council report, which we will have for our next meeting.

Can we go through the items in turn? I agree about Europass. The extension of Tempus is also very interesting. Another issue is the proposed amendments to the legal basis of the European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training. Given the recent debate that took place in the Parliament on the skills gap, those issues are worth highlighting. We should monitor them closely and obtain more information.

Do other members have comments about the education, youth and culture council?

I refer to paragraph 5 of the paper, which concerns vocational training. There is a move towards taking a harmonised approach to the issue, but in reality different standards and regulations govern vocational training, especially in engineering, in most countries in Europe. I wonder what account is being taken of those differences and whether the regulation to which the paper refers is likely to change in the future. Technically, electricity supply can operate at different frequencies and transmission voltages. There are also differences in distribution. I do not think that one can take a broad-brush approach to vocational training and establish common training patterns.

Are you suggesting that you want more background information?

Yes. That is all that I can ask for, but I would like to know specifically what account is taken of the various regulatory systems that have been set up, in particular by engineering institutions, across Europe.

I ask members to check that their mobile phones are switched off. I understand that there is interference with the sound system, which affects the official report.

There are no further comments on the education, youth and culture council. Do members have comments on the report for the employment, social policy, health and consumer affairs council?

Paragraph 10 refers to health cards. It strikes me that there is a link with identity cards. Is it worth our following up on that issue?

I want to make the opposite point on the same issue. I am strongly in favour of health cards, because such cards will help those who visit, live and work abroad and provide them with much easier access to the health service, which is highly desirable and may occasionally save their lives. For that reason, it is worth our finding out more about the issue.

My second point relates to the prevention of cardiovascular disease and the Scottish Executive's comments on page 12 of the paper. There is reference to diet and smoking, but there is no reference to alcohol consumption. I find that surprising, in view of the national plan and local plans for alcohol and the major part that alcohol misuse plays in Scottish ill health.

I want to clarify that Keith Raffan and I are batting on the same wicket. I am in no way critical of health cards—I approve of them. I was simply asking a question about their wider use.

Although I agree with both my colleagues on the health cards, we have a system in place at the moment. Unfortunately, the E111 is a paper document that can get torn, tattered and lost. The idea is that the card would replace such paper documents, but more needs to be done to promote it, because not enough people who go to Europe realise that they qualify for emergency treatment. That is important.

I want to draw attention to the work that the Irish presidency is doing. I note from paragraph 12 on page 12 of the briefing paper the progress that is being made on tobacco control, which I welcome. It is good that the Irish are taking such an aggressive approach to the issue, because it has not been dealt with for too long.

Hear, hear.

If members are happy, we will get some more background information on the points that Phil Gallie and Keith Raffan have raised. Members can return to those points at a future date if they think that we should take more action.

Are there any further comments on the reports?

I have some brief comments on the pre-council report for the transport, telecommunications and energy council. Paragraph 7, in the section on maritime transport, mentions the proposed directive of the European Parliament and the Council on enhancing port security. Although Perth harbour, which I visited on Friday, is relatively small, it is not unimportant to the city. It is having to spend a huge amount of money, both in capital expenditure and in running costs, to improve security. The issue is important. Security may have been too lax in the past, but Perth harbour now faces a massive bill. Although it is stated that the directive is controversial and is unlikely to be agreed this year, we should note the proposal, because it would have a direct impact on Scotland. I am sure that it would affect harbours other than Perth to an even greater extent.

Okay, we will note that.

Are there any points on telecommunications or energy?

On energy, I note that paragraph 14 talks about an intended directive on eco-design requirements. In that regard, I wonder whether the air conditioning in the new Scottish Parliament building will comply. Can we find out whether hydrofluorocarbons are involved? HFCs are now thought to be a major problem, just as chlorofluorocarbons were.

We could ask the clerks to speak to John Home Robertson later.

What?

The clerks could speak to you to find out about the Holyrood building.

John, do you know what the base for the air conditioning system is? Are HFCs being used?

That is not really a matter for the committee. If you insist, we could look into it.

If it is not a matter that concerns the committee directly, perhaps we should draw the Presiding Officer's attention to the intention of the directive in question, to allow him to make a judgment on it.

We would be happy to do that.

Provided that it would not result in an increase in the cost.

We have to meet the cost of European regulations and directives.

Are you arguing for the cost of the Holyrood building to escalate?

No, I am arguing for the European regulation.

We will copy that point to the Presiding Officer's office.

You can copy it to me, if you like.

Paragraph 15(c) deals with a requirement that we have spoken of in the past, which is about safeguarding the security of the electricity supply. I wonder whether we should send notification of that requirement to the Executive and ask it to check it against its targets for renewable energy.

Hear, hear. You are quite right.

Thank you, John.

I notice that the report says "possible", so that might not be an agenda item at the council. If that is confirmed as an item on the agenda, we could do what you suggest. It is anticipated that it may be on the council's agenda.

The paper says that there is a proposal for a directive. We all know what happens once such proposals are launched—they sneak through in a couple of years.

I move on to the general affairs and external relations council. Are there any comments? If not, are there any comments on the other post-council reports: the agriculture and fisheries council on 26 and 27 April and the justice and home affairs council on 29 April?

No.

You have had your chance.

What about the correspondence?

We are still chasing up the correspondence on post-council reports. We have not had a response.

I make a brief comment on that. It is important for us to get that information. To give one example, Europass will have a national agency. A lot of our local authorities—certainly those in my region—are making bids for civil service job dispersal. They are doing some good presentations and it is important for them to have as much advance information as possible so that they can work with the Executive to bid for the European Union agencies.

We will certainly chase that up and we will return to the matter at the next meeting. Are you happy with that?

May I make a suggestion in relation to that? A number of agencies are coming up for grabs. One that I have already identified, and on which I have lodged a members' business motion, is the European languages agency. It might be helpful for the committee to have a draft report on outstanding decisions on agencies, so that we can lobby appropriately and identify and target one or two. It will not be helpful to go for everything. We must consider what we have in Scotland and which ones we should go for.

We discussed that at a previous meeting. We sent the letter as a result of that discussion and we have agreed to bring the matter back as an agenda item at a future date.

That is what I am asking.

Your points have been made before.

Right, so the languages—

That is all in train. The clerks will bring back a report and we will have a separate discussion on it.