Chamber
Plenary, 16 Mar 2006
16 Mar 2006 · S2 · Plenary
Item of business
European Commission Green Papers (Divorce and Succession and Wills)
I fully support the position that Ms McNeill and the Justice 1 Committee have taken. I see that Mr Gallie is present, so I put on record that although I condemn the European Union's position on applicable law in divorce and succession and wills, I remain a supporter of the concept and the principle of the EU. However, it seems to me that the proposals in the green papers are not what the EU is meant to be about.
I have supported the EU's enlargement and will support the assimilation of other nations, and I believe that we must ensure that we can address the EU's social needs as well as its economic needs. However, it is one thing to try to harmonise social welfare legislation and quite another to impinge on an area that has reflected the basis of our society for generations. I oppose the EU's positions as adopted in the green papers, but I do not believe that I am, by setting out my opposition to where the green papers are coming from, going against the concept of the EU; I am merely taking part in a continuing debate about what that Union is meant to be about.
For almost 1,000 years, we have had a distinctive legal system in Scotland. Notwithstanding that we live on the island of Britain, where there is a distinctive jurisdiction south of the border, we have for 300 years maintained a separate legal system while we have operated within the union of the United Kingdom. I argue that that state of affairs has been beneficial to Scotland because it has allowed the country to go its own way on legal decisions, even before the re-establishment of the Scottish Parliament. We have been able to decide how to run our society and the EU should recognise that.
I have supported the EU's enlargement and will support the assimilation of other nations, and I believe that we must ensure that we can address the EU's social needs as well as its economic needs. However, it is one thing to try to harmonise social welfare legislation and quite another to impinge on an area that has reflected the basis of our society for generations. I oppose the EU's positions as adopted in the green papers, but I do not believe that I am, by setting out my opposition to where the green papers are coming from, going against the concept of the EU; I am merely taking part in a continuing debate about what that Union is meant to be about.
For almost 1,000 years, we have had a distinctive legal system in Scotland. Notwithstanding that we live on the island of Britain, where there is a distinctive jurisdiction south of the border, we have for 300 years maintained a separate legal system while we have operated within the union of the United Kingdom. I argue that that state of affairs has been beneficial to Scotland because it has allowed the country to go its own way on legal decisions, even before the re-establishment of the Scottish Parliament. We have been able to decide how to run our society and the EU should recognise that.
In the same item of business
The Presiding Officer (Mr George Reid):
NPA
The next item of business is a debate on motion S2M-4088, in the name of Pauline McNeill, on behalf of the Justice 1 Committee, on European Commission green ...
Pauline McNeill (Glasgow Kelvin) (Lab):
Lab
I am grateful to the Parliamentary Bureau for allowing the Justice 1 Committee this slot to discuss our report on what we regard as very important European i...
Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP):
SNP
I fully support the position that Ms McNeill and the Justice 1 Committee have taken. I see that Mr Gallie is present, so I put on record that although I cond...
Jeremy Purvis (Tweeddale, Ettrick and Lauderdale) (LD):
LD
I have a great deal of sympathy with what Kenny MacAskill says, but if the Scottish National Party is against common European policies on fisheries, on some ...
Mr MacAskill:
SNP
Absolutely. I have written and spoken about that subject, so I think that Mr Purvis's intervention is an irrelevancy. He may have been attempting to make a p...
Margaret Mitchell (Central Scotland) (Con):
Con
I welcome today's debate. I do so not because I believe that there is anything contentious in the motion or that there is likely to be disagreement on the Ju...
Mike Pringle (Edinburgh South) (LD):
LD
Members of the Justice 1 Committee must do all that we can to protect and enhance our legal system in Scotland. There is no doubt that the European Commissio...
Mrs Mary Mulligan (Linlithgow) (Lab):
Lab
It is important that Parliament's committees discuss, take a view on and influence the European Commission's decisions. Like Kenny MacAskill, I am a strong s...
Jeremy Purvis:
LD
I was not involved in the committee's consideration, but does the member agree that, in an international divorce, there may be assets and bank accounts in di...
Mrs Mulligan:
Lab
Such situations may arise, but the important point is that, at present, people know which law will be used to deal with them.On succession and wills, Scotlan...
Jeremy Purvis (Tweeddale, Ettrick and Lauderdale) (LD):
LD
The Commission's green paper outlines what it considers to be shortcomings in the current situation in the European Union. On divorce, there should be some s...
Pauline McNeill:
Lab
Does the member agree that there have always been complex situations? We have dealt with private international law for a long time, using the Hague conventio...
Jeremy Purvis:
LD
Ultimately, I agree. We do not hear the S-word much, but subsidiarity should be the basis of legislation in Scotland, the UK and the EU, so that legislators ...
Bill Aitken (Glasgow) (Con):
Con
Unless the world turns upside down at the conclusion of the debate, common sense will prevail. It was not always thus. The Minister for Justice has heard me ...
The Minister for Justice (Cathy Jamieson):
Lab
I have no interests to declare, as I do not have a holiday home in Tuscany, Benidorm or anywhere else. I am, of course, domiciled in the central part of Euro...
Stewart Stevenson (Banff and Buchan) (SNP):
SNP
The Justice 1 Committee brought this matter to the attention of the Parliament, because green papers have a habit of changing colour. There is little doubt t...