Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, If he will make it his policy that the Scottish Government Minister with responsibility for fisheries will chair meetings of the Agriculture and Fisheries Council when the UK holds the presidency of the Council of the EU in 2017.

Foreign Policy is a reserved matter under the terms of the Devolution Settlements. A UK Minister will normally take the chair at Council meetings. In the absence of a UK Minister, arrangements are in place whereby a Minister of a devolved administration may take the Chair, subject to certain conditions. No detailed planning for EU Council meetings during the UK Presidency has yet taken place.