Chamber
Plenary, 15 Jan 2004
15 Jan 2004 · S2 · Plenary
Item of business
European Commission<br />(Work Programme)
No. I think that he was right to understand that fisheries need to be managed internationally. Margaret Thatcher was very seldom right, but she was right to sign up to the 1986 Single European Act and John Major was right to sign up to the Maastricht treaty. Of course, the Tory party in Opposition always reverts to its quaint old prejudices: we will hear more of that today.
Margaret Ewing has raised the issue, so I would like to urge some caution on fisheries. As an east-coast constituency member and someone who was formerly a minister with responsibility for fisheries, I am well aware of the difficulties that face our fishing industry. Our own scientists are warning of a serious danger to important fish stocks. We know that our fishing fleet—or parts of it—are part of that problem and our minister has negotiated a package that is designed to increase our catch of haddock and prawns while beginning a recovery plan for cod stocks. In those circumstances, although it is certainly legitimate to keep talking about ways to improve the package, I submit that threats to indulge in even more illegal fishing should be condemned. Everyone in Parliament should support the Scottish Fisheries Protection Agency in its mission to protect fish stocks around our coast.
Returning, as I should, to the Commission's work programme, the accession of 10 new member states is ambitious. It will be complicated, but it is certainly the right thing to do. I very much welcome the fact that the Executive is establishing good contacts with the accession countries in order to enable Scottish communities and Scottish companies to make links and to do business in those areas. We have a lot to learn, a lot to contribute and a lot to gain, so let us work at that positively. I hope that that will not be the end of the expansion of the European Union.
As other members on all sides of the chamber have said, it would be a good thing for the European Union to have a Muslim country as a member state, so I strongly welcome the United Kingdom's active support for Turkey's application for membership of the EU.
The Commission's agenda for stability and sustainable growth is ambitious but it is the right agenda for difficult times. Much of that agenda is obviously directed at big strategic issues such as freedom, security, justice and the EU's policy on external issues. We look to the Scottish Executive to ensure that Scottish interests are protected and promoted as that agenda is implemented.
I would like to touch briefly on one aspect of the work programme in which Scotland has a lot of ground to make up—legislation and enforcement on waste. Let us face it; there are parts of Scotland that can be described only as middens. We have hardly begun to minimise or recycle our waste and rubbish is dumped in our housing areas, in our industrial areas and even on our roadsides. If the European Union can help to make Scots stop polluting our own country, that will be fine by me. I hope that the Executive will support that agenda enthusiastically.
I have always been an enthusiast for the European project. Frankly, I would like to see Britain joining the euro as soon as that is feasible, and I hope that the European members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation will work together to develop an effective security framework for the continent. It is clear that the best basis for peace and security in the region will be economic growth and security.
Margaret Ewing has raised the issue, so I would like to urge some caution on fisheries. As an east-coast constituency member and someone who was formerly a minister with responsibility for fisheries, I am well aware of the difficulties that face our fishing industry. Our own scientists are warning of a serious danger to important fish stocks. We know that our fishing fleet—or parts of it—are part of that problem and our minister has negotiated a package that is designed to increase our catch of haddock and prawns while beginning a recovery plan for cod stocks. In those circumstances, although it is certainly legitimate to keep talking about ways to improve the package, I submit that threats to indulge in even more illegal fishing should be condemned. Everyone in Parliament should support the Scottish Fisheries Protection Agency in its mission to protect fish stocks around our coast.
Returning, as I should, to the Commission's work programme, the accession of 10 new member states is ambitious. It will be complicated, but it is certainly the right thing to do. I very much welcome the fact that the Executive is establishing good contacts with the accession countries in order to enable Scottish communities and Scottish companies to make links and to do business in those areas. We have a lot to learn, a lot to contribute and a lot to gain, so let us work at that positively. I hope that that will not be the end of the expansion of the European Union.
As other members on all sides of the chamber have said, it would be a good thing for the European Union to have a Muslim country as a member state, so I strongly welcome the United Kingdom's active support for Turkey's application for membership of the EU.
The Commission's agenda for stability and sustainable growth is ambitious but it is the right agenda for difficult times. Much of that agenda is obviously directed at big strategic issues such as freedom, security, justice and the EU's policy on external issues. We look to the Scottish Executive to ensure that Scottish interests are protected and promoted as that agenda is implemented.
I would like to touch briefly on one aspect of the work programme in which Scotland has a lot of ground to make up—legislation and enforcement on waste. Let us face it; there are parts of Scotland that can be described only as middens. We have hardly begun to minimise or recycle our waste and rubbish is dumped in our housing areas, in our industrial areas and even on our roadsides. If the European Union can help to make Scots stop polluting our own country, that will be fine by me. I hope that the Executive will support that agenda enthusiastically.
I have always been an enthusiast for the European project. Frankly, I would like to see Britain joining the euro as soon as that is feasible, and I hope that the European members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation will work together to develop an effective security framework for the continent. It is clear that the best basis for peace and security in the region will be economic growth and security.
In the same item of business
The Presiding Officer (Mr George Reid):
NPA
Good morning. The first item of business is a debate on motion S2M-771, in the name of Richard Lochhead, on behalf of the European and External Relations Com...
Richard Lochhead (North East Scotland) (SNP):
SNP
As convener of the Scottish Parliament's European and External Relations Committee, it is a pleasure for me to open the debate on the European Commission's w...
Mr Keith Raffan (Mid Scotland and Fife) (LD):
LD
Does Mr Lochhead agree that although the SCDI is planning trade missions to seven of the 10 new member states within the next year, it is equally important t...
Richard Lochhead:
SNP
Yes. I am delighted to agree with a fellow member of the committee.The review of the 2004 work plan for Scottish Development International shows that it has ...
Nicola Sturgeon (Glasgow) (SNP):
SNP
This is an important debate in what will be a momentous year for the European Union. As Richard Lochhead said, it is the year of enlargement, European Parlia...
Irene Oldfather (Cunninghame South) (Lab):
Lab
Does the member accept that a crucial part of the work of the European and External Relations Committee is to do just that? The previous European Committee i...
Nicola Sturgeon:
SNP
That is exactly what I was coming on to say. In this session of Parliament we have made important strides forward. It is good to see ministers and officials ...
Phil Gallie (South of Scotland) (Con):
Con
I congratulate Richard Lochhead on the way in which he led for the European and External Relations Committee. I agree with most of what he said.We welcome th...
The Deputy Minister for Finance and Public Services (Tavish Scott):
LD
I was rather looking forward to Mr Gallie continuing that frame of analysis.I thank Richard Lochhead and the European and External Relations Committee for in...
Phil Gallie:
Con
I thank the minister for his comments. I recognise that the constitution would not be implemented until 2009, but its implications are so vast that it will t...
Tavish Scott:
LD
Those observations do not hang together with the reality of the Commission's work plan. As Mr Gallie said, the constitution might be considered to be too amb...
Mrs Margaret Ewing (Moray) (SNP):
SNP
In the context of communication between the Scottish Parliament and the European Parliament, has the minister given any consideration to the establishment of...
Tavish Scott:
LD
I hope that Mrs Ewing will accept that that is rather more a matter for Parliament than for me. I visited the Scottish Parliament office the last time I was ...
Richard Lochhead:
SNP
Enlargement of the EU has been a big issue in the debate and will continue to be so. Will the minister give examples of any analyses by his department of the...
Tavish Scott:
LD
Such analysis is going on, rightly, across all departments of the Executive, not just in finance and public services. Enterprise plays a particularly importa...
Mr John Home Robertson (East Lothian) (Lab):
Lab
The motion asks Parliament to note the European Commission's work programme in a year of massive transition, in which a new European Parliament will be elect...
Mrs Ewing:
SNP
Is Mr Home Robertson now saying that he believes that Ted Heath was right to say that Scottish fishermen were expendable?
Mr Home Robertson:
Lab
No. I think that he was right to understand that fisheries need to be managed internationally. Margaret Thatcher was very seldom right, but she was right to ...
Phil Gallie:
Con
Is Mr Home Robertson concerned that growth in the euro zone is less than growth in Europe as a whole?
Mr Home Robertson:
Lab
That is one of the current problems. It would be right for Britain to be in the euro zone, but the zone must stabilise and begin to grow. However, it is wort...
Mr Keith Raffan (Mid Scotland and Fife) (LD):
LD
It has been said with considerable understatement that 2004 will be a far from normal year for the EU. Indeed, phrases such as "a dramatic new phase in the E...
Mike Watson (Glasgow Cathcart) (Lab):
Lab
It is indeed good to see Keith Raffan back in the chamber—I am enjoying his speech. However, I am interested in his comment about the need to reunify Cyprus,...
Mr Raffan:
LD
Obviously, the Commission's opinion on opening accession negotiations with Turkey continues to relate in some ways to the current pressure that the Turkish G...
Mark Ballard (Lothians) (Green):
Green
I welcome this opportunity to discuss the European Commission's planned work programme. Whatever concerns we might have about the unelected and undemocratic ...
Phil Gallie:
Con
If all those toxic substances are getting into our blood, why on earth are we all living so much longer these days?
Mark Ballard:
Green
There is major public health concern about the impact on us of toxic chemicals in food, consumer and other products. For example, they might be involved in t...
Helen Eadie (Dunfermline East) (Lab):
Lab
I am glad that, in this debate and in many others, the Scottish Parliament has, by and large, shown committed and enthusiastic support for engagement with th...
Mrs Margaret Ewing (Moray) (SNP):
SNP
Like others who have spoken in the debate, I welcome the opportunity to discuss the European Commission's work programme for 2004. I hope that we can do this...
Phil Gallie:
Con
In her earlier comments, the member referred to the mass of information and legislation that is generated in Europe. She has just referred to that again, as ...
Mrs Ewing:
SNP
People would be equally gobsmacked by the number of acronyms that we use when we discuss European legislation. That is part of the problem that we have to ov...