Mr. Paul Savage:

The purpose or main value is to make in an input in how we contribute to negotiations. Ultimately, it is a negotiation that is agreed at EU level between the member states at Council. Our job is to reflect the concerns of all stakeholders in this country in how that proposal is developed. We try to reflect that, whether that is from stakeholders or from research that we carry out. For instance, on the pesticides side, we will be doing research. We are doing a research code at the moment which will help us to flesh out some of the implications for us and will inform our position on that. We will be able to update the committee on where that is going over the next few months as well.

From our perspective, we want to get as many inputs as possible. We want to hear the views of the committee on how the regulation is developing but, ultimately, we have to reflect that in the negotiations that are taking place in Brussels, as do all of the other 26 member states. The outcome of the regulation will still be a product of and defined by the negotiation in Brussels. We will reflect the views of the committee in that engagement we go through in Brussels over what will potentially be the next one or two years.