European and External Relations Committee

Meeting date: Thursday, June 27, 2013

Official Report 523KB pdf

---

Committee of the Regions

Agenda item 3 is a report from our two members on the Committee of the Regions. Members will remember that, about a year ago, we conducted a short inquiry on the make-up of the Committee of the Regions and who should go as delegates, and we recommended and nominated members for that. Both members have sent us a report, which was compiled by Stewart Maxwell MSP as the continuing member of the Committee of the Regions. Patricia Ferguson is a relatively new member of that committee, having only recently been nominated; I think that it is about a year before a member can attend properly.

Stewart Maxwell has put together a report on his and Patricia Ferguson’s behalf, and Patricia will compile the next report on behalf of them both. I refer members to paper EU/S4/13/13/3, which contains the very detailed report.

I invite comments and questions from members.

I am now meant to be an alternate member. As members will see from paragraph 4 of Stewart Maxwell’s letter, we

“only had one member who was eligible to attend CoR meetings”,

which was Stewart Maxwell, but that position has now changed, although I do not quite understand why. I was offered only one date, but it was June 19 and I had to stand in at the Rural Affairs, Climate Change and Environment Committee that day, so I regret to say that I have not been able to attend the Committee of the Regions. Nevertheless, I am sure that it does a great job.

Previously, we did not quite join up—especially in respect of information-sharing—with some of the outside organisations and bodies that we have members sitting on. I hope that the report and the feedback that we now have from the members will allow us to improve that and to be more strategic in our thinking.

I will wait until I get a chance to attend.

Subjects are discussed in the Committee of the Regions that certainly are relevant to this committee. That avenue of communication might not have been open before, but it is open now. I had a conversation with Stewart Maxwell and Patricia Ferguson last week and I know that both of them are keen to give feedback on anything that they feel this committee should take up.

The report is very full and covers lots of topics. Clearly, many of them are relevant to our work here in the Parliament. It is good to see those connections being made from the Parliament to the Committee of the Regions and back again.

Are members content to write to Stewart Maxwell and Patricia Ferguson to thank them for the report and to say that we look forward to the next one?

Members indicated agreement.