BRITAIN’S ministers and officials are to empty-chair most European Union meetings from September 1, the UK Government has announced as it ratchets up the Brexit pressure.
As the announcement was made Steve Barclay, the Brexit Secretary, tweeted: "Sending officials to meetings that don't affect us is not the best use of their time. From September 1 we'll only go to meetings that are vital to our interests - freeing our people to focus on our future relationships."
The department made clear the Government would be represented at meetings where the UK had a "significant national interest"; the issue of security was given as one example.
With Brexit due on October 31, meetings are expected to focus largely on the period after the UK has left the bloc and decisions on whether to attend will be made on a case-by-case basis.
Mr Barclay explained: "An incredible amount of time and effort goes into EU meetings with attendance just the tip of the iceberg.
"Our diligent, world-class officials also spend many hours preparing for them whether in reading the necessary papers or working on briefings.
"From now on we will only go to the meetings that really matter, reducing attendance by over half and saving hundreds of hours.
"This will free up time for ministers and their officials to get on with preparing for our departure on October 31 and seizing the opportunities that lie ahead."
At meetings where the UK is not represented, its vote will be delegated.
The Brexit department said the move was "not intended in any way to frustrate the functioning of the EU".
The Prime Minister will continue to attend the European Council meetings of the bloc's leaders.
The Liberal Democrats’ Tom Brake, speaking on behalf of the pro-EU Best for Britain campaign, said: "This is another instance of the Government shooting itself in the foot.
"We don't know what our relationship with the EU will be like in the future. We have yet to agree any kind of deal with the EU that can pass through Parliament. No-deal has been categorically rejected by Parliament and has no mandate from the public. Yet we're now prematurely leaving the decision-making table.
"Brexit sounds the death-knell for British influence abroad. This government announcement points to Britain becoming a nation of rule-takers," he added.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel