Part of 2. Questions to the Counsel General and Minister for European Transition (in respect of his European Transition responsibilities) – in the Senedd at 2:57 pm on 9 December 2020.
[Inaudible.]—with John Griffiths's supplementary question, we take every opportunity to maintain those relationships. In September, for example, the First Minister, the then Minister for international relations and I each met the EU ambassador to the UK. That's obviously a new appointment, but that EU ambassador came to Cardiff. We've also been successfully chairing the Vanguard Initiative throughout 2020, which is a significant inter-regional grouping that focuses on smart specialisation on a collaborative basis to boost innovative industries. And he will know—he mentioned in his question the role of parliamentarians in that, and the UK contact group for the Committee of the Regions has representatives from this Senedd: David Rees, and Russell George as the alternative. Those are all important ways of maintaining that network of contacts, both at a member state level, a parliamentary level, but also at a regional level. And he will know from the international strategy that engagement at a regional level with Brittany, the Basque Country and Flanders in particular is an essential part of our important network of communications across the European Union into the future.