Official Report 493KB pdf
Agenda item 4 is the “Brussels Bulletin”, which is compiled regularly by Ian Duncan. Do members have any comments on it?
I want to ask about the last major point on the common sales law. I see that the matter is at the stage of a draft regulation. Does Ian Duncan have any intelligence on how likely it is that other member states will ever agree to it, because it will require unanimity, will it not?
That is a fair point. The UK does not like it and a number of other member states do not like it either, because they see it as creating an unfortunate precedent. The Scottish Government does not fully support it either. All that begs the question: will it ever really become law? There is a long way to go, given what we know at the moment. If the member states stick to their current position, it will not become law but, as things move on, they might evolve in a more positive direction. You are absolutely right. At the moment, the answer is no, but in time it might become yes, possibly.
On page 3 of the bulletin, under the heading “EU Summit”, there is a reference to “A roadmap to stability and growth”, which was published on 12 October. The bulletin states that the document
That is spot on. What is in the bulletin is yesterday’s news. When it was written, it was right but things have moved on. The amount now stands at around the €1 trillion mark. There is even a debate about whether that is adequate, given the instability in Italy. By the time I write the next bulletin, who knows what the figure could be.
I just wanted to know whether the figure in the bulletin was the true figure.
It was at the time.
That is fine.
There is a danger of copycatting by countries that are struggling. They might think that a bail-out would be possible for them too and fast track some of their shortcomings. I am sure that the European Union will have its work cut out to ensure that that does not happen.
You are absolutely right. Tomorrow is the big day. A lot of this should be—should be—resolved tomorrow.
Hope springs eternal.
There is a meeting of the euro zone countries the following day, which should consider the issue. The difficulty that they continue to face is that they are always one step behind, never one step ahead. Until they get to the stage of signing off a process that actually functions and restores some sense of confidence, they will always be behind in the race.
Thanks.
Thank you very much for all the stuff, Ian; there is plenty of detail there. On the CAP, what is the next move? Thus far the proposals have not been warmly received by anyone. Is it the NFU Scotland that we are speaking to on 7 November?
In your other committee?
I am sorry, where is that happening? Maybe I have made a mistake.
Sorry, did you say “we” meaning—
Sorry. The agriculture committee is taking evidence. What is the next step in Europe on this? When do they listen to what everyone is saying?
The process has now begun. The draft documents—draft legislation—have been launched, so two things will begin to happen, all but simultaneously. The European Parliament will begin to consider them in the agriculture committee, which will lead on this, as you would expect. At the same time, the member states will begin to consider them in working groups, too. The member states first examined them at a political level in Council just the other day, to see whether they felt that they were going in the right direction. At the moment, nobody is happy with the draft legislation, but no one is unhappy with it for the same reasons, if that makes sense. The negotiations will be interesting because everyone is unhappy about different things and the negotiations will be on different points.
For the record, that will be the European Parliament. We are getting our Parliaments mixed up here—Jamie, you thought it was our committee, didn’t you?
Well, Ian Duncan said the agriculture committee, but does the agriculture committee here not do something about it?
The Rural Affairs, Climate Change and Environment Committee.
Yes, we do—we are. Would you like to come along?
There is an invitation.
When are you doing that?
Do you know the date, Aileen? You should check with the clerks, because they keep the paperwork.
I can check.
I think the NFU has been invited to give evidence to the European agriculture committee and also to the Scottish Parliament Rural Affairs, Climate Change and Environment Committee.
I was going to ask a quick question to do with regional policy. Obviously, the publication of the Commission’s proposals for the European structural fund is hugely significant for Scotland. I wonder whether we are any clearer about the timetabling of consideration in the European Parliament and about what the Scottish Government is doing.
The position is becoming clearer. As far as I am aware, the scheduling has not been completed inside the Parliament, but I think Alyn Smith might be able to help us in that regard. It might be worth while my having a dialogue with Alyn Smith to take that forward. I was speaking to the Scottish Government about this and it is doing something, but it is not ready to tell us what that is yet. It is beginning the process. Iain McIver is also writing a paper, which will be brought to a future committee meeting—the next one, I think—[Interruption.] No, the one on 15 November. Today’s update is a starter for 10 to give you the bones of what is happening. Panic set in there.
I see that.
The next paper will contain the fully fledged detail that will allow us to make decisions. We spoke again about the round-table discussions that the committee would have and we were planning to do one on structural funds, cohesion funds and so on. That is likely to be at the meeting on 13 December, when we can move things forward.
May I thank Ian Duncan? We find the “Brussels Bulletin” hugely helpful in keeping track of things, although in some cases by the time it has gone to print it is old news. May I ask members whether they are content to send the bulletin to our other committees for their consideration?
We previously agreed to take agenda item 5 in private, so I thank members of the public for their attendance. We will clear the public gallery and move into private session.