Chamber and committees

We seem to have all exhausted our thoughts on the issue. I again thank Mr Hall for his submission and his attendance.

Item 2 is to take evidence in the committee’s inquiry into the Scottish Government’s international work. I am delighted to welcome from the Scottish Government Martin Johnson, EU director, Brussels office; Dr Alexandra Stein, head of Berlin office; and John Webster, head of London office. I thank you all for providing a submission prior to today’s session, and I invite Mr Johnson to make a brief opening statement.

Thank you very much for those introductory remarks.

I will open the questioning; we will move to questions from other members of the committee shortly. I remind members that, if they have a particular order in which they want the witnesses to respond, they should say that when they ask their question.

Your written submission mentions that the international offices are

“grounded in Scotland’s National Performance Framework”.

I would like you to elaborate on that, and particularly on how that ties in with the Scottish Government’s cultural priorities, which are another aspect of the committee’s work.

Thank you. We move to questions from committee members.

I have another follow-up question on glyphosate. It was given as an example of where the keeping-pace powers would be of concern to you. However, the Welsh Government has committed to the keeping-pace powers and the Protocol on Ireland/Northern Ireland says that Northern Ireland will implement any measures coming from Europe. Is it not more likely that, currently, any divergence would be between England and the other three devolved nations, not between Scotland and the rest of the UK? I ask that in the context of the work that you mentioned that your office in Brussels does with your counterparts from other countries.

Thank you very much. Other committee members will now ask questions.

I guess that today’s theme is:

O, wad some Power the giftie gie us
To see oursels as others see us!

I quote Burns specifically because there is cultural diplomacy around all this. No matter how we feel about the shortbread view Scotland, this is about much more than that.

I see challenges ahead in our role in scrutinising the issues. The PPA is coming as a result of the agreement between the EU and Westminster, but the Scottish Parliament will have no formal role in that body. We are empowered under the Scotland Act 1998 to scrutinise our own Government’s involvement, but the Scottish Government will say that it has no formal involvement in the TCA at this stage. That presents a scrutiny challenge for us because we have no power to scrutinise the UK Government.

The common frameworks are still under development. The uncertainty around those, and around Executive power, is, to my mind, one of the challenges that we face currently. How should we do that engagement if the Executive power is used in an area in which a power has come back to the UK from Europe but is part of the devolved settlement? We might see the UK taking a different turn. I would be interested in your comments on those areas.

Unsurprisingly, I would consider us to be staunchly European in our outlook. Having served in this Parliament for 10 years, I would say that we have engaged with Europe. However, given what we are hearing today, much more could be done.

I know that the Scottish Government has committed to Erasmus, but are our institutions seen as key partners in Europe? Are our universities still involved in horizon Europe research? If I look at the Scottish Government’s priorities for the economy, for space technology and for life sciences, is it recognised that we are able to contribute to those areas? Another area is fintech, in which there is a lot of investment in Edinburgh. Is there any recognition by the EU of developments in the key strategic areas for Scotland?

That is probably enough to ask at the moment, so I will go to Mr Salamone first and then to Fabian Zuleeg.

Oh, dear. We lost you for a moment there, Dr Zuleeg. Have you concluded your comments?

Mr McAllister, thank you very much for your attendance. Your points about visits and personal contact are well made. You might be interested to know that, in the previous session of the Parliament, as convener of the Education and Skills Committee, I visited Hanover to see the science, technology, engineering and mathematics expo that is put on every two years for pupils from everywhere in Lower Saxony. That was an incredible experience, and your colleagues in Hanover made me very welcome.

We will take from what you have said some possibilities going forward. I am sure that you will see more of us in the coming months and years. Thank you for your attendance this morning.

We move to questions from Maurice Golden.