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Does anyone else want to speak about their sector’s experience of the TCA to date?

The convener, Clare Adamson, and I are observer members on the PPA, which meets twice a year in the UK and the EU. The role of the specialised committees is very much on the agenda, and issues about how frequently they meet and how they operate are very live.

I said at the start that we were going to try to cover three separate themes, but we have overlapped the first and second ones quite a lot. The second theme was challenges and how they might be resolved: we have discussed a wide variety of challenges and potential solutions. To draw that theme to a close, would anyone like to add anything about current challenges and potential solutions?

We are certainly aware of the issue around representation. I add that I am a member of the Faculty of Advocates, so I am particularly aware of the matter and am sure that it is an issue to which we will return.

I move to our third theme, which is on opportunities for further developing the EU-UK relationship and looking to the future. I will ask Irene Oldfather a question, because her submission touches on the importance of continuous engagement and on adaptability being significant. What is your sense of how the relationship might evolve in the next few years? We have spoken about elections, the review and so on, but where are the opportunities?

Good morning and welcome to the fifth meeting in 2024 of the Constitution, Europe, External Affairs and Culture Committee. We have received apologies from our convener, Clare Adamson MSP, and Mark Ruskell MSP, who are unable to attend the committee today. Jim Fairlie MSP is attending as a substitute for Clare Adamson. He has attended the committee before, so there is no need for him to declare any interests.

Agenda item 1 is a review of the European Union-United Kingdom trade and co-operation agreement. This is the first session of our inquiry. We are taking evidence in a round-table format from the Scottish Advisory Forum on Europe, which I will call SAFE if that is okay. I offer a very warm welcome on behalf of the committee to Irene Oldfather, who is the chair of SAFE; and to other members of the forum: Rachel Le Noan, who is the policy and public affairs officer at the Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations; Agnes Tolmie, who is the chair of the Scottish Women’s Convention; Dr Adam Marks, who is the international policy executive at the Law Society of Scotland; Alastair Sim, who is the director of Universities Scotland; Tom Sallis, who is the director of global partnerships at the Scotch Whisky Association; Lloyd Austin, who is the convener of the governance group Scottish Environment LINK; and Robert Smith, who is head of international policy at the Association of British Pharmaceutical Industry.

I will start by inviting Irene Oldfather to make a brief opening statement about SAFE, its work, particularly in relation to the review of the TCA, and your role on the UK domestic advisory group.

As we have mentioned Erasmus+ and horizon, I call Alastair Sim, who has not yet spoken.

One of the remits of this committee is culture, obviously—it is in our title—and we cover it, particularly Scottish culture in Europe but also European culture coming to Scotland. It is very pertinent.

If that is right—I am sure that it is—why does it appear that the EU wants only a short, somewhat technical review of the TCA? Is this not the opportunity for a much more wide-ranging and substantive review?

I will come back on one of the things that you mentioned. You have given us a clear picture of SAFE, its work and its activities. It is obviously a very vibrant body that is thinking about things. We also know about what the DAG does at UK level. Do you get a sense that, on the EU side of things, there is a similar vitality and an interest in the issues? You mentioned engagement and Alastair Sim mentioned contact with European universities. Do you get a sense that the EU is as lively, interested and engaged in these issues?

Thank you—that was very helpful. On that last point, we are very cognisant of the fact that elections are coming in the EU and the UK. Further, there have been quite strong indications from the EU that it wants, as you said, a very short and rather technical review. It would be quite interesting to garner the views of those round the table on that in particular.

We have two hours scheduled for this item, but I want to ensure that everyone round the table can contribute, so I encourage everyone to keep questions and answers succinct. Please do not feel that you have to address every question. Also, from a technical point of view, you do not have to press any buttons on your microphone console; all that will be done for you by our broadcasting colleagues.

We have structured the session into three parts, and there will be cross over. The first part is on how trade in goods and services between the EU and UK is currently working. The second part is on the challenges and how those can be resolved. The final part is on the opportunities for further developing the UK-EU relationship. We will try to spend around half an hour to 35 minutes on each of those parts.

I will start with the first part. I want to take a temperature check, if you like, on trade in goods and services. My question is for Mr Sallis, initially. Broadly, what has been the SWA’s experience of the TCA to date? Others may then want to come in to answer that from the perspective of their areas.