Hansard

I hope that our EER Committee’s report provides the Parliament with a useful snapshot and summary of what is happening in the European Union. As our convener said, we must thank the other committees of the Parliament for examining the policies of the EU in detail in terms of their particular committee focus, and on how those policies might impact on Scotland.

The report indicates that the EU’s 2020 strategy for growth is pivotal to most of the work that is being undertaken, and is itself almost halfway through its programme. Our Scottish MEPs, Ian Hudghton and Alyn Smith, also reminded us of the value of European funding to Scotland—nearly €1 billion from the European regional development fund and European social fund over the current period—in helping Scotland to develop our innovative low-carbon economy as well as promoting international business, tackling poverty and getting people back into work. It is important to keep highlighting the benefits of our membership of the EU—if only to counterbalance the negativity that is coming from some people.

The current focus is on Mr Juncker’s 10-point strategy and action plan, which was published last December and was mentioned by Christina McKelvie. Jobs, growth and investment are key priorities, as they should be. There are one or two other priorities that stand out for me—in particular, the planned work to develop the digital single market across Europe and plans to engage more directly with European citizens. A digital single market across Europe must surely be one of the greatest opportunities for growth, for harmonisation of technology and for competitive pricing to drive down costs for consumers. According to Mr Juncker, we can create €340 billion-worth of additional growth and create hundreds of thousands of new jobs and a vibrant knowledge economy. He went on to say:

“The borderless nature of digital technologies means it no longer makes sense for each EU country to have its own rules for telecommunications services, copyright, data protection, or the management of radio spectrum.”

I certainly agree with that, so the focus on some of those issues will help.

However, let us not kid ourselves: companies create technology borders to make money, and they make plenty from us as we move from one political jurisdiction to another. If I make the trip from Scotland to Donegal in Ireland, the mobile phone charges are huge, although it is only 170 miles from here. If I go to Inverness, which is about 200 miles from me, the charges are the same as they are at home. That has nothing to do with technology—it is about exploiting jurisdiction changes to make money from consumers.

That is why I was disappointed to learn that the Commission is planning to delay for perhaps another two years its previously stated commitment to end roaming charges for people who move around Europe. Roaming charges were supposed to be phased out by the end of this year. If we are serious about the noble aims and objectives to create a digital single market using superfast broadband right across Europe, those issues must surely be resolved.

A true digital single market should mean that we get the choice of using any digital service providers in Europe for mobile and broadband—not just the restricted and diminishing choice that we have in the UK. It should also mean that consumers are free to choose what TV broadcast media they buy, for example. Why should consumers across Europe be restricted to their national broadcaster and, in some cases, forced to pay for that, when there are plenty of other service providers across Europe whose output they might wish to watch? I cite the RTÉ service from Ireland as a particular example. We asked EU Commissioner Jackie Minor about that, and she accepted that the Commission needs to take measures to restore trust, and said that plans are under way to help with that and with how we engage with European citizens. The EU’s public-facing websites are hardly designed and written for the ordinary citizen to connect with, and Mrs Minor recognised that.

That is a crucial area of work for the EU and the Commission. Telling the public in Europe the positive story about Europe and about how the nations of Europe benefit from and help one another is a great story to tell, but it needs to be told often and in much more accessible language than has been the case so far. If it is not, the negative elements that are fuelled by the anti-European press are only too happy to pick up on those issues and to use them to attack the founding principles of the EU—the promotion of co-operation, jobs, economic growth and peace.

I very much hope to see further progress on both the issues that I have highlighted today. Perhaps we might also get the chance to update Parliament before its session ends next May.