Departments: European Union

Philip Davies
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how many officials in his Department are (a) involved in assisting European Council negotiations, (b) involved in assisting and advising the European Commission, (c) seconded to the European Commission, (d) involved in monitoring EU decisions, communications, regulations and directives, (e) involved in enforcing compliance with EU decisions, communications, regulations and directives and (f) involved in other work related to the European Council, Commission or Court of Justice.

Mr. Thomas
DFID has a core department of 21 staff working exclusively on European Union (EU) aid policy and implementation. This includes one post in the United Kingdom Permanent Representative to the EU (in Brussels). DFID also fields 18 seconded national experts, of which 17 work directly with the Commission in Brussels and one with the current presidency. A small number of additional DFID staff have been seconded to European Commission delegations in Africa. In addition, a variety of other departments in DFID deal with specific issues to which EU policy is relevant, including: trade, migration, aid effectiveness, climate change, and preparation of the EU-Africa Strategy. None of these other departments are exclusively EU focused. DFID does not have a mandate for enforcing compliance with EU decisions.