European Maritime Policy

This afternoon I had a phone call from the office of Commissioner Joe Borg of the European Commission asking me to participate in the launch of the new EU Maritime Policy tomorrow, as an alleged 'expert'.

I had met Mr Borg's colleague Stavros Dimas in Göteborg in May 2006 when I was a participating delegate at the Council of Ministers of the North Sea Convention, as President of KIMO, and unexpectedly he asked to have a meeting with KIMO to discuss our ambitions and expectations. Actually, I think he though we had organised the evening's entertainment with singers, food, dancers etc. in the Town Hall, when in fact it had all been arranged by the City and we had hijacked the event to raise the profile of KIMO. However, our actions obviously caught the attention of the Commission for all the right reasons.

I'm (half?) promised a copy of the policy and statement at the same time as the press, and I will then be a/the principal contact for Scotland and Scottish reactions to the new policy. I'm to tell it as it is, so the first course of action is to download the Comhairle, Scottish Executive and KIMO submissions and remember refresh my memory on what we were hoping to achieve.

It's all very flattering, and will probably come to nothing much, but I did so enjoy being able to affect and set policy at the very highest level.