European and External Relations Committee

3rd Report, 2012 (Session 4)

Annual Report for parliamentary year 10 May 2011 to 11 May 2012

Published by the Scottish Parliament on 14 June 2012

SP Paper 158 Session 4 (2012)

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European and External Relations Committee

Remit and membership

Remit: The remit of the European and External Relations Committee is to consider and report on- (a) proposals for European Communities legislation; (b) the implementation of European Communities legislation; (c) any European Communities or European Union issue; (d) the development and implementation of the Scottish Administration's links with countries and territories outside Scotland, the European Communities (and their institutions) and other international organisations; and (e) co-ordination of the international activities of the Scottish Administration. (Standing Orders of the Scottish Parliament, Rule 6.8) Membership: Clare Adamson (from 23 February 2012) Helen Eadie Annabel Ewing (until 23 February 2012) Bill Kidd Hanzala Malik (Deputy Convener) Jamie McGrigor Christina McKelvie (Convener) Aileen McLeod Committee Clerking Team: Clerk to the Committee Dr Ian Duncan Assistant Clerk Jennifer Bell Jenny Goldsmith Committee Assistant Eileen Martin

SP Paper 158 Session 4 (2012)

European and External Relations Committee

3rd Report 2012 (Session 4) Annual Report 2011- 2012

The Committee reports to the Parliament as follows—

This Report covers the work of the European and External Relations Committee for

the Parliamentary year from 11 May 2011 to 10 May 2012.

INTRODUCTION

1. In the first year of this Session the Committee undertook a broad fact-finding phase of engagement before focusing its work programme. The Committee has continued both to conduct research into current European issues and to scrutinise the Scottish Government.

2. As part of its scrutiny function, the Committee has maintained regular contact with representatives of the Scottish Government, with UK Government Ministers and with Scotland’s MEPs.

Inquiries and reports

Scottish Government Draft Budget 2012-13

3. The Committee scrutinised the Europe and External Affairs components of the Scottish Government’s Draft Budget 2012-13, taking evidence from both stakeholders and the Cabinet Secretary for Culture and External Affairs. In assessing the Government’s spending plans, the Committee focused upon the policy areas of international relations, major events and themed years. The Committee reported to the Finance Committee of the Scottish Parliament.

Committee of the Regions

4. At the behest of the Scottish Parliament’s Presiding Officer, the Committee concluded a short inquiry into the Scottish Parliament’s representation on the Committee of the Regions (CoR) and an appropriate reporting mechanism for the Scottish Parliament’s delegates.

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EU/S4/12/R3

The Scotland Bill – EU Issues

5. The Committee conducted a short inquiry into the Scottish Government’s proposed amendment to the UK Government’s Scotland Bill, namely placing on a statutory footing the attendance of Scottish ministers or their nominated representatives at relevant proceedings of the EU institutions. The Committee reported its findings to the Scotland Bill Committee of the Scottish Parliament.

Developments in the Eurozone and their implications for Communication between the

UK and Scottish Governments

6. The Committee is undertaking an inquiry on developments in the Eurozone and their implications for communication between the Scottish and UK Governments. The Committee has taken evidence from Scottish and UK Government Ministers. The Committee published its report on 29 May 2012.

The Scottish Parliament’s EU priorities

7. The Scottish Parliament’s EU Strategy (see below) requires the Committee to lead and co-ordinate the Scottish Parliament’s Committees’ consideration of the European Commission’s Work Programme for 2012. This exercise was undertaken during December 2011 to March 2012, resulting in a summary report produced by the Committee and a Committee-sponsored Chamber debate.

Scottish representation abroad and Scottish Government’s Country Plans

8. The Committee has undertaken a round table discussion in advance of an inquiry into the effectiveness of the various Scottish offices abroad in promoting Scottish interests. The Committee will return to the issue in autumn 2012, when it intends to stage a full inquiry to consider: (i) the activities of other like countries and regions; and (ii) the effectiveness of Scotland’s representation.

EU Economic Issues

9. The Committee took evidence from the Cabinet Secretary for Finance, Employment and Sustainable Growth, which led to further investigation into the EU’s Horizon 2020 proposals for Research and Development and the EU’s Structural Fund proposals (see below).

EU Structural Funds

10. The Committee is undertaking an inquiry into EU Structural Funds with a view to learning lessons from the current fund allocation and how these lessons might be applied to the new round of programmes from 2014. The Committee is taking evidence from a wide range of stakeholders and the Scottish Government, and will report by summer 2012.

Horizon 2020

11. The Committee is carrying out an inquiry on the proposal for a successor to the EU’s 7th Framework Programme (FP7), which supports research and innovation. The new programme has been named ‘Horizon 2020.’ Written and oral evidence revealed

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that a number of stakeholders were either unaware of the opportunities or unable to access the funds as a result of a range of factors (from general lack of knowledge to lack of resources to compete).

12. In order to address these issues, the Committee hosted a conference on 25 May 2012, which brought together a breadth of stakeholders from academia, the business (in particular SMEs) and public sectors, to discuss how Scotland can best engage with the upcoming proposals. The Committee will produce a report on Horizon 2020 in summer 2012.

On-going work

Scottish Parliament EU Strategy

13. The Parliament agreed to introduce a new Scottish Parliament EU Strategy in December 2010. The strategy seeks to mainstream the scrutiny of EU issues, while facilitating early engagement with the development of EU proposals and scrutiny of any subsidiarity issues.

14. Implementation of the strategy has seen EU reporters appointed by the subject committees, and their engagement in the scrutiny of the European Commission’s Work Programme for 2012. This scrutiny culminated in a report produced by the Committee and a Committee-sponsored debate on the Parliament’s EU Priorities in March 2012.

15. The Committee will assess the progress made by the Committees against their declared priorities, and will report to the Parliament.

16. No subsidiarity issues were considered by the Committee during this period.

Bills

17. Whilst the Committee does not scrutinise Bills, it tracks EU proposals that have a direct impact on devolved competences. These are brought to the attention of the relevant subject committees as envisaged by the Parliament’s EU Strategy.

EU Issues

18. To assist committees in their consideration of EU issues and to draw attention to forthcoming EU issues of significance for Scotland, the Scottish Parliament’s European Officer has continued to provide regular updates through the publication of the Brussels Bulletin.

Subordinate Legislation

19. The Committee does not consider the Scottish Government’s secondary legislation in the same way as subject committees. However, the Committee does scrutinise the Scottish Government’s transposition and implementation of EU legislation in devolved areas, through regular reports provided by the Scottish Government. The last transposition report was considered by the Committee on 17 April 2012.

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Petitions

20. The Committee has considered one petition lodged by the European Parliament’s Committee on Petitions which sought clarification on Scotland’s interpretation of EU rules regarding ID documents.

21. The Committee has asked the Scottish Government to keep the Committee informed on the progress in this area; to consider the petition as a submission to the current consultation on the use of ID documentation, and to inform the European Parliament’s Committee on Petitions of these actions.

Networks and Visitors

22. The Committee continues to work closely with a number of external partners, including Scottish MEPs, representatives of the European institutions and other regional parliaments.

23. The Committee also works closely with colleagues at Westminster and the other devolved UK institutions, notably through the Committee of European Chairs – UK (EC-UK) Forum (the Chairs of the European committees of the parliaments and devolved assemblies in the UK). The Committee Convener hosted the EC-UK forum at the Scottish Parliament in January 2012.

24. The Committee has welcomed a number of inward visits notably from the countries holding the rotating EU Presidency. In addition, the Committee has hosted a range of meetings at ambassadorial level - Bosnia and Herzegovina, Poland, Hungary and Denmark as well as the Uniform Legislation and Statutes Review Committee of the Parliament of Western Australia. The Committee has also supported interns from the Malawian and Hungarian Parliaments.

25. As part of its early fact find phase of engagement, the Committee visited Brussels in November 2011, a visit supported by the European Commission. On that occasion, the main issues under discussion were: Cohesion Policy, the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), developments in the Eurozone, the Multi-Annual Financial Framework (MAFF), relations between the EU and regional parliaments in general and subsidiarity in particular Scotland’s presence in Brussels, the Common Fisheries Policy and Horizon 2020.

Equalities

26. The Committee, in line with Scottish Parliament policy, continues to mainstream equality issues in all areas of its work, and reported on equality issues to the Equal Opportunities Committee as part of its scrutiny of the Scottish Government’s Draft Budget 2012-13

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Meetings

27. During the reporting period (11 May 2011 to 10 March 2012), the Committee met 16 times and 13 meetings were partly held in private. 24 items were taken in private, 10 for consideration of key themes following evidence sessions, 4 for draft reports and 10 for consideration of approaches to inquiries and evidence.

28. All meetings of the Committee were held in Edinburgh.

29. In the course of these meetings the Committee took evidence by video conference on two occasions and in total from 55 witnesses.

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