European and External Relations Committee

Meeting date: Thursday, September 29, 2016

Official Report 659KB pdf

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Scottish Parliament European Union Strategy

Welcome back. The ambassador of the Slovak Republic has been slightly delayed, so do members agree to take item 3 ahead of item 2?

Members indicated agreement.

Item 3 is consideration of the Parliament’s EU strategy. In light of the EU referendum result, I wrote to the conveners of other committees to seek their views on updating the EU strategy and the role of the EU reporters. The clerks have prepared background information, which includes a list of EU reporters who have been appointed to date and the responses that have been received from conveners on their approach to the subject. Members will see that, in paragraph 8 of paper 4, the clerks have set out proposals for strengthening the EU strategy and developing the role of reporters, so we seek members’ agreement on the clerks’ suggestions.

In the previous session of Parliament, I was an EU reporter for the Local Government and Regeneration Committee. I found that the importance that each committee placed on the EU reporter role determined how active the EU reporter was, as did the genuine interest that the individual who was assigned to that role had. I thought that the EU reporter role was useful and I certainly tried to use the position to help further engage the Local Government and Regeneration Committee with EU issues.

The role is important, but perhaps it has not been thought of enough—certainly in the previous session. I recommend that anyone who becomes an EU reporter for a committee should engage fully with the role, and I am happy that the role is going to be beefed up.

The responses from various committee conveners indicate that there is an understanding across the committees that the EU reporter role needs to change and that consideration of the implications of leaving the EU should be part of that role. That is really common sense.

10:15  

A useful exercise has been undertaken and the proposal makes good sense. It is striking that one committee has even appointed two reporters, which is a measure of the understanding across the Parliament that the issue will be important across portfolios.

I have just noticed that on page 7 of paper 4, which is annex C, Mike Rumbles is listed as the Rural Economy and Connectivity Committee reporter. Has that been approved and finalised?

I do not know—that is a matter for that committee. The paper just sets out what the committees have told us.

Okay.

For this committee’s work of co-ordinating the response across the Parliament to the process of leaving the EU, it would be useful if the reporters liaised with us to keep us fully updated. Other committees scrutinise legislation and have a burden of other work, and some of them are taking on more scrutiny than others specifically of Brexit. For example, I am pleased that the Local Government and Communities Committee is going to take evidence from local authorities, which will be useful. I look forward to seeing what that committee comes back with. I believe that the Economy, Jobs and Fair Work Committee plans to take forward a particular body of work. The opportunity to liaise with the reporters will be useful for us in keeping up to speed with what is happening across all the committees.

I do not want to add to the burden of our workload, which seems to be increasing weekly, but it might be useful to have even one informal meeting with the EU reporters when they are all in place so that we can have a general discussion and hear the issues that they want to bring to the table. After that, we could have more formal dialogue with them regularly.

I plan to do that as convener but, if other members wish to participate, that is fine. I know that members’ time is under a great deal of pressure and I do not know whether other members want to participate. I will certainly keep up the dialogue as convener.

Do we agree on the proposals that are laid out in the paper?

Members indicated agreement.

We will have another short suspension until the next item of business.

10:17 Meeting suspended.  

10:18 On resuming—