Organisations across Scotland have "serious concerns" about the impact of Brexit, according to a wide-ranging parliamentary report.
What Scotland Thinks brings together the evidence of more than 150 organisations and individuals submitted to Holyrood's Europe Committee to highlight key issues emerging from the vote to leave the European Union (EU).
Committee convener Joan McAlpine said it was clear a "vast majority" thought Brexit would be bad for Scotland.
The report emphasises the need for a better understanding of the short and long-term impact on the Scottish economy of withdrawal from the EU, highlighting the uncertainty expressed by most sectors.
Ms McAlpine called for both the Scottish and UK governments to work with the committee to address the concerns, adding: "The time for greater clarity is now."
She said: "This report provides an invaluable insight into how Scotland sees Brexit and it is fair to say that the vast majority of the submissions expressed serious concern about its impact.
"Scotland thinks Brexit is bad for business and investment, bad for workers' protection, bad for education and bad for the environment.
"There was considerable concern about leaving the single market and the customs union, and the lack of certainty about what will replace them."
Deputy convener Lewis Macdonald said: "Our report also sets out concerns about two further areas.
"Firstly, how we will be able to increase the number of economically-active people in Scotland if we cannot retain and attract workers from other EU member states.
"Secondly, whether existing EU laws in the areas of environment, employment and social policy will be weakened or more poorly enforced."
Evidence taken by MSPs on justice and home affairs raised questions about the status of EU citizens in Scotland, future co-operation in initiatives such as the European Arrest Warrant and with bodies such as Europol and how the volume of EU law in the UK will be dealt with.
Witnesses in the education sector highlighted concerns over college and university budgets, research funding and future participation in EU exchange programmes such as Erasmus.
On agriculture and fisheries, uncertainty was expressed over issues including the replacement of the Common Agricultural Policy while it was acknowledged there could be potential opportunities for Scotland-specific policies.
Questions were asked about how Scotland and the UK would meet legally-binding climate change emissions targets given a reliance on involvement in EU initiatives to reduce the emission of greenhouse gases.
Other issues raised included the impact on equalities law and human rights and the possibility of further devolution when powers are repatriated from the EU.
The evidence was taken before the Scottish Government set out its proposals for a differentiated settlement for Scotland and before Prime Minister Theresa May's speech revealing her priorities for the Brexit negotiations, including leaving the single market.
Scottish Greens external affairs spokesman Ross Greer said: "This cross-party report, drawn from vast amounts of evidence submitted by everyone from farmers to trade unions to business owners, makes clear that Brexit will be bad for Scotland in just about every way imaginable."
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel