Seòmar agus comataidhean

Thank you.

Professor Gethins, you mentioned Flanders and Denmark as examples of places that want to and do engage in multilateral diplomacy and with as many multilateral institutions as they can. Scotland is doing that to some extent with the EU in Brussels, but are there other multilateral institutions that we should or could have opportunities to be involved in in the future? That question is open to any of the witnesses.

I will pick up on the point about being a good global citizen. Professor Jackson said that the council is not necessarily a tool to be used by the Scottish Government, but we have a good reputation for bringing people from other parts of the world to academic institutions and to events such as those organised by Beyond Borders Scotland or those sponsored by the Scottish Government. What more can we do to build on that reputation by bringing people from parts of the world where there are problems and attempting to be a force for reconciliation or good? I see Professor Jackson and Professor Gethins nodding their heads.

You have kind of touched on the answer to my question, which is about the REUL bill. Obviously, we have seen a ping-pong of amendments going back and forth between the two houses of the UK Parliament. Did the UK Government consult the Scottish Government at any point about the content of those amendments and their likely effect on your planning around the laws that you have mentioned?

I concur with that last point.

My question is about how the Scottish Government is preparing for the possibility that the UK Government will go in a different direction. Obviously, the Scottish Government is indicating its commitment to active farming in a way that we have not heard as clearly from the UK Government. Do you have any concerns about your policy direction being undermined by a radically different direction from the UK Government?

I presume that the issue comes down to not what you ask for but what you are given. Were things simpler when you had a regime of seven-year funding, as was the case pre-Brexit?

On a point of order, convener, that was unparliamentary language.

We have touched on this already, but the REUL bill that is going through the House of Commons will touch on—if that is the right way to put it—areas of devolved competence, some of which affect food safety and other areas that are of interest to the committee. What are the Scottish Government’s expectations regarding UK ministers use of powers in the bill, given that we appear to be in territory where the UK Government does not need to obtain consent from the Scottish Parliament on some of those issues? Can you tell us what point that debate has reached in the areas that affect your portfolio?

Are you now talking about ping-pong between the two houses of the UK Parliament?

The other half of my question is, why the distinction?