SCOTTISH Secretary Ian Lang has given his most enthusiastic support
ever on Scotland's role in Europe, backing moves for Scotland to be a
member of a new body representing the regions of Europe, and announcing
that two key meetings of European Community organisations would be
coming to Scotland.
His support for the new consultative body for the regions may seem
surprising, as he appeared far more suspicious of the concept during his
recent trip to Bavaria.
However, political observers believe that the Secretary of State is
using his Euro-enthusiasm to outflank support for devolution by
highlighting how much Scotland is gaining in Europe without any messy
changes in the current constitutional set-up. Mr Lang has denied that
this is his underlying motive.
His appeal to voters is that Scotland's role in Europe is quite
happily developing without requiring a separate Scottish parliament,
while at the same time Scotland is taking full advantage of the British
Government's influence in the Community. ''We can have the best of both
worlds,'' is how he puts it.
Moves to give the regions of Europe a stronger voice in the Community
are currently being debated by what is called the Political Union
Inter-Governmental Conference. Mr Lang, addressing the Scottish Council
Development and Industry's international forum in Gleneagles, told the
influential gathering yesterday: ''I look forward to Scotland playing a
major role in such arrangements.''
The proposal is to have within the Community an EC body with a
specific remit to represent the regions and to advise on regional
issues. It would be asked to give a view on Commission legislative
proposals which would have a particular impact on the regions before
they were agreed by the Council. It would also be free to put forward
its views on any other Community issue it felt strongly about.
Scottish Council delegates, including STUC general secretary Campbell
Christie, immediately asked Mr Lang who would represent Scotland on the
body and whether they would be elected to it, with suspicions being
expressed that the new set-up would not have sufficient clout.
Mr Lang told them that discussions were at an early stage and such
details still had to be worked out.
He warned, though: ''Let us be clear -- my Europe of the regions does
not mean all European regions having a standardised constitutional
structure. Nor does it mean fragmenting member states such as the UK.''
The two events that are coming to Scotland are a gathering of the 12
European environment ministers at Gleneagles, and the quaintly termed
COREPER which stands for the Committee of Permanent Representatives to
the European Community -- in other words the ambassadors to the EC. The
last such meeting caused quite a stir when the Dutch, during their year
of presidency, decided the ambassadors should fly thousands of miles to
Curacao, which they deemed to be part of the European Community as it is
a Dutch colony. The resultant high expenditure came in for some stiff
criticism.
Mr Lang also explained that the high profile heads of government
meeting which Mr Major has already announced will be held next year in
Edinburgh, is actually going to take place in Holyrood Palace, courtesy
of the Queen.
He believes the meeting will put Scotland at the centre of European
Community affairs at a historic point in Europe's development with the
start of the Single European Market. It will bring not only the
government heads to Scotland, but also their key officials and the
world's media.
The meeting will take place on December 11 and 12 next year.
All this European activity by Mr Lang is part of a strategy to show
that he and his team are fully exploiting the membership of the
Community on behalf of Scotland. In his short time as Secretary of State
he has been to the European Parliament, held talks with the President of
the European Commission, and hosted major European events in Scotland.
Scottish Office arrangements for training and personnel have been
overhauled so that officials are quickly learning how to deal with their
counterparts in Brussels.
In addition Scottish Enterprise has set up Scotland Europa and Britain
has for the first time put Scotland forward as the location for an EC
institution.
''Not bad for nine months work,'' he said modestly.
Indeed his normal reserve was dropped slightly as he urged
industrialists at the Gleneagles meeting: ''Scotland has always been at
its best when it has been outward looking. Let's look out towards the
new Europe and go for it.''
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