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Thank you. Mr Berman, Energy UK said that, post-Brexit,

“the UK moved to a set of less efficient trading arrangements with the EU”

and that

“Whilst some sectors were able to redirect trade flows to work around these new barriers, this wasn’t possible for energy.”

Will you expand a little on what the barriers have been in your sector? Do you have any suggestions for changes to the TCA that might help?

That is very helpful. Thank you very much.

We move to questions from committee members.

I have a final question about mobility and people. Mr Bain, you mentioned a structure very much like the one presented by the EU—that is, a time-limited youth exchange programme that would be visa based. Has there been any discussion within the organisations that you are in touch with on the Scottish Government’s priorities with regard to a complete return to Erasmus+ and membership of creative Europe?

Good morning, and welcome to the 28th meeting in 2024 of the Constitution, Europe, External Affairs and Culture Committee. We have received apologies—sorry, that is not relevant any more, as Keith Brown has joined us.

Our first agenda item is to continue to take evidence in the second phase of our inquiry in relation to the review of the European Union-United Kingdom trade and co-operation agreement, focusing on trade and services. We are joined online by Adam Berman, director of policy and advocacy, Energy UK, and William Bain, head of trade policy, British Chambers of Commerce. Welcome to you both and thanks for joining us.

I will start with a question to each of you individually. Mr Bain, in a news release last month, you said:

“The UK economy is now 81% services based, and increasing amounts of these activities are exportable to customers overseas”,

and you particularly highlighted

“Growth and consumer demand in the Asia-Pacific region”.

What is your sense of the balance between UK-EU services trade and trade with the rest of the world? How has that balance changed following Brexit, and what are the determining factors behind any such change?

I think that you mentioned the complexities arising from some of the differing arrangements between different European countries and what is, or is not, allowable, and the committee, with its culture hat on, has heard very clearly from touring artists about difficulties with some countries not allowing in technical staff, sound engineers and other aspects of the production side of tours, while others do. It just makes things even more complex. So, it was interesting to hear those comments.

We are really looking forward to seeing your report before the end of the year. I thank you both for this morning’s really informative and helpful evidence session.

We now move into private to consider further items on our agenda.

I have a specific question about our recent visit to Brussels to present the first part of our TCA inquiry report on trades and goods. In the discussions that the committee had there, we heard loud and clear that reaching a veterinary agreement would require the UK to align with all EU animal and plant health law. How is the BVA tracking EU law? Have vets based in Scotland been given any advice on how they should keep pace with developments and standards in the EU?

To be able to work in the EU, the sector would have to align itself with the EU’s AI regulations. We have seen progress there with an EU bill being proposed, but the UK Government is somewhat behind in that regard. How important is alignment of regulation in those larger areas and, indeed, in data and GDPR? How important is it that the IT industry aligns with the EU?

There would be a difference between the salaries of business leaders and other people in that area of work, such as Mr Addy. We are not talking about profits here, to be clear.

Our second agenda item is to continue to take evidence on the second phase of our inquiry in relation to the review of the European Union-United Kingdom Trade and Co-operation Agreement, focusing on trade in services. I declare an interest, as I am a member of the British Computer Society.

We are joined by Vivienne Mackinnon, director of veterinary partnerships in the school of veterinary medicine at Scotland’s Rural College and junior vice-president of the Scottish branch of the British Veterinary Association; Dr Joseph Maguire, associate professor in the school of computing science at the University of Glasgow and co-chair of the Scottish computing education committee of BCS, the Chartered Institute for IT; and Ben Addy, managing director of Moxon Architects and member of the Royal Incorporation of Architects in Scotland. Thank you for your attendance.

I will open with a broad question. How has the TCA impacted your sector, in terms of trade in services, and what differences do you see between the situation pre-Brexit and post-Brexit? I will ask Vivienne to start.

I have a similar question for Dr Maguire. The EU has introduced a law in the area of AI regulation, which will be important for the sector. How will we keep pace with what happens in the EU if the UK does not adopt the same principles on AI regulation and other data regulation coming from the EU?