The possible implications for Scotland of an EU trade agreement with the USA will be discussed at the Scottish Parliament over the coming months. The government European and External Relations Committee announced last week that it is to host a series of public discussions on the subject.

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The Committee announced on Friday that it will hold meetings to examine the potential impacts of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP). Up for discussion will be the potential impacts on NHS Scotland, education, agriculture, the environment and climate change.

The Committee also said it will investigate any potential benefits for the Scottish economy of reducing trade barriers with the USA. 

The proposed free trade agreement is highly controversial, and has attracted a great deal of criticism. Experts including Finnish international law professor Martti Koskenniem have claimed negotiations lack transparency and have warned that the agreement could result in "A transfer of power from public authorities to an arbitration body, where a handful of [legal experts] would be able to rule whether a country can enact a law or not and how the law must be interpreted."

European and External Relations Committee Convener Christina McKelvie MSP said on Friday, "There has been much media coverage and public concern about exactly what TTIP might mean for Scotland. In hosting public meetings… we hope to provide a platform for informed debate."

All meetings, the first of which will be held on Thursday (27^th November), will be broadcast and archived on the Scottish government website. Thursday's meeting will see participants from Trade Unions and the third sector discussing the issues with the Committee. At a second meeting in December, business representatives will discuss the implications of the TTIP.