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To be honest, that is the problem right across the piece—

Absolutely, and the framework would not change that position. You have given one example, but if the committee wants further details on that aspect, I will be happy to write to it about the decisions that we have taken. That position would not be impacted by the framework.

But again—

We made that policy decision and set out right from the start that we wanted to remain aligned with the EU. Ultimately, we want to do that for our reaccession, but we also want to maintain the standards that have been set by the EU, and to go further than that if we can and if we feel that it is appropriate. We think that that is an important starting point. Even when it comes to facilitating trade, problems have emerged where there has not been a commitment to maintaining such alignment. That is where we are coming from on that.

Yes, we still have that concern about the Subsidy Control Act 2022, because no amendments were made to resolve any of the concerns that we raised in relation to it.

In relation to EU law?

That is part of the problem with the retained EU law bill, because so much of it is relevant to the agriculture and islands portfolio, in particular, to this committee and to the Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee. To quantify that, you will, no doubt, be aware of the response of Food Standards Scotland to the publication of that bill. It would be a massive undertaking if we had to replace retained EU law in that area, because the timescale for that is the end of December next year.

Yes—that is no problem, convener.

I go back to what I said earlier: the common frameworks in themselves will not address that problem, because it is about the mechanism that we are dealing with. If we take a different position from that of the UK Government, it is about how we manage that divergence and what it might look like, and how we consider the implications of that. It does not replace our normal process of policy development or engagement with stakeholders.

What Rachael Hamilton describes is an issue that I encounter in the round, across my portfolio. We deal with stakeholders who have different, and sometimes very polarised, views. We have to listen to those views—that is part of my role and responsibility—and determine how we are going to take a policy forward. The common frameworks in themselves do not replace that process.

With regard to the process for exclusions, it is important that we learn lessons. As George Burgess said, the single-use plastics exclusion was the first time that we had been through the process and really tested the waters. I think that it is fair to say that the issue was more on the UK Government’s side. When it brought the regulations forward, there was a gap in their implementation and the regulations were narrower in scope than what we had had. Again, all that we can do is learn the lessons from how that example was taken through as we look to deal with similar issues in the future.

Euan Page will come in on that point.

We have had more powers in relation to our decision making as a result of what has flowed through following our leaving the EU. However, the common frameworks, in and of themselves, do not give us more powers; they set out a way for us to collaborate and work with each other in managing policy divergence. I hope that that makes sense and answers your question.