On the occasion of the Conference of the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (COSLA) 2016, in Crieff (Perthshire) on 6 October 2016, the vice-president of the Congress, Gudrun Mosler-Törnström, and the Secretary General of the Congress, Andreas Kiefer, exchanged words with the Scottish First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon. On Friday 7 October, they met Fiona Hyslop, Scottish Minister for culture, tourism and external relations, who informed them of the preparation - with the Wales, Northern Ireland and England - of a United-Kingdom's position for the Brexit negotiations. The Scottish Minister stressed that the Scottish Government would like to ensure Scotland's interests are taken into account in the best possible way. She insisted on the fact that Scottish interests must be protected during the negotiations.
Charlie Jeffery, Senior Vice-Principal of the University of Edinburgh gathered academics and practitioners who provided insight in the discussion about the situation of Scotland and the United-Kingdom in the post-Brexit process. The Congress delegation learned that the follow-up to the Congress monitoring report on the European Charter for Local Self-Government from 2014 has also to be seen in this context. Finally, Gudrun Mosler-Törnström and Andreas Kiefer presented the Congress, its statutory and monitoring work, in a discussion at the University of Edinburgh with students from all over the world.
 

Photo gallery (Flickr)