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House of Lords written question HL37.

Question for Department for Exiting the European Union

UIN HL37, tabled on 21 June 2017

Her Majesty's Government what are the foreign language skills of each member of the UK team negotiating withdrawal from the European Union

Answered on

29 June 2017

The team negotiating the UK’s withdrawal from the European Union has been chosen on the basis of expertise in the subject matter. The Department for Exiting the European Union does not centrally hold details of the language skills of its staff or members of the negotiating team.

The joint Terms of Reference for the Article 50 TEU negotiations, published on 19 June 2017, set out that English and French will be used as working languages during the negotiations, and in working documents. Where necessary, interpretation will be provided by the European Commission. All members of the team negotiating the UK’s withdrawal are therefore able to participate fully in the negotiations.


The Terms of Reference can be found here - https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/620409/Terms_of_reference_for_the_Article_50_negotiations_between_the_United_Kingdom_and_the_European_Union.pdf.