Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) ministers and officials have been in touch with their counterparts in Austria, Kyrgyzstan, Portugal, Trinidad & Tobago and Zimbabwe following their election as non-permanent members of the UN Security Council for the 2027-2028 term. The UK looks forward to working closely with them to progress our shared priorities in the Council, maintain international peace and security, and uphold the UN Charter.

The Ministry of Defence is actively seeking closer bilateral relations with Austria to strengthen collective security in the Euro-Atlantic. This includes regular Defence Staff Talks, which have taken place in both London and Vienna, fostering strategic dialogue and alignment between the UK Ministry of Defence and the Austrian MOD.

Austria’s military neutrality does not hinder collaboration, which is underpinned by routinely meeting across a number of levels to discuss issues around policy, procurement, and military training. Training cooperation is actively encouraged and covers opportunities both in the UK and Austria. With military teams taking part in Exercise Cambrian Patrol in the Brecon Beacons, UK service personnel conducting adventurous training in Austria, and reciprocal individual training at our Staff Colleges.

The UK maintains strong and enduring ties with Austria. A Joint Vision Statement was signed in 2023 to deepen cooperation across foreign and security policy, on economic issues and in encouraging people-to-people links. Consultations between the UK and Austria on the Vision Statement are held annually, with the last such meeting held in June 2025. Cooperation on migration and security has also been formalised over the last two years, including following up on the Joint Statement on tackling illegal migration in May 2024. The Prime Minister wrote to his opposite Chancellor Stocker on his appointment in March 2025, the Foreign Secretary spoke to Foreign Minister Meinl-Reisinger in March and I engaged Europe Minister Plakolm in May.

The Government has announced its plans to publish a Circular Economy Strategy for England and a series of roadmaps detailing the interventions the government and others will make on a sector-by-sector basis, one of which is agri-food.

As part of this work, evidence for action from right across the economy will be considered and evaluated in terms of what interventions may be needed, including introducing a mandatory food waste reporting requirement for large food businesses.

No assessment of the potential impact of mandatory food waste reporting in Austria has been made.

The Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs and the Minister of State for Europe, North America and UK Overseas Territories regularly engage with their counterparts in Ireland, Austria and Switzerland on a variety of issues including security in Europe. Security remains a priority for the UK and through regular engagements with partners the Government is keen to ensure this remains the case.

The government’s protective security system is rigorous and proportionate.

It is our long-standing policy not to provide detailed information on those arrangements, as doing so could compromise their integrity and affect individuals’ security.

We conducted thorough research in collaboration with the Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office to verify our understanding of each overseas system in question, to then measure against the UK’s standard route to obtain gender recognition.

The Minister for Women and Equalities has been in conversations with the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office throughout this entire process and is monitoring the international reaction to this legislation. Diplomatic posts have been consulted on and notified of the changes, and we have provided them with comprehensive question and answer documents that address any potential misconceptions of what this Order does. We have benefited greatly from this collaboration and I am confident that our international counterparts are well informed about this piece of legislation and its outcomes.

Across all road classifications, the UK has some of the safest roads in the world. According to the latest (2021) international safety data consolidated and published by DfT, Great Britain and Northern Ireland have lower rates of road fatalities per million people than most European countries, including Germany, Spain and France. We do not have comparative figures specifically for Motorways.

The Austrian requirement is for applicants for public procurements to register with a local authority before submitting tender documents. This is not a general requirement for all companies exporting to Austria. While we have not estimated the potential economic impact of the specific issue raised, estimates for a selection of barriers where Government action is being taken are included in the published “Aggregate valuation estimates for market access barriers”.

This Government is committed to supporting the UK’s creative industries, including musicians, to adapt to new arrangements with the EU.

We have worked extensively with the sector and directly with EU Member States, including Austria and Belgium, to clarify arrangements on the movement of people, goods and haulage. We have worked across government and with industry to develop guidance including ‘landing pages’ on GOV.UK specifically for touring musicians and other creative sectors.

Visa and work permit requirements vary from Member State to Member State, and travellers should always check what requirements they need to fulfil with the EU Member State they are travelling to. That is why we have worked with Member States to ensure their guidance is clear and accessible, and why we have published general business traveller summaries for each Member State on GOV.UK.

More broadly, we have confirmed that:

• Nearly all Member States offer visa and work permit free routes for musicians and creative performers.

• Portable musical instruments, carried or in a vehicle, can be transported cost-free and should not require ATA Carnets; and

• Small ‘splitter vans’ are not subject to the Trade and Cooperation Agreement limits around haulage for the creative sectors and ‘cross trade’. In addition, the Government has introduced dual registration to support specialist hauliers, meaning they can benefit from more generous market access arrangements in Great Britain and the EU.

This Government is committed to supporting the UK’s creative industries, including musicians, to adapt to new arrangements with the EU.

We have worked extensively with the sector and directly with EU Member States, including Austria and Belgium, to clarify arrangements on the movement of people, goods and haulage. We have worked across government and with industry to develop guidance including ‘landing pages’ on GOV.UK specifically for touring musicians and other creative sectors.

Visa and work permit requirements vary from Member State to Member State, and travellers should always check what requirements they need to fulfil with the EU Member State they are travelling to. That is why we have worked with Member States to ensure their guidance is clear and accessible, and why we have published general business traveller summaries for each Member State on GOV.UK.

More broadly, we have confirmed that:

• Nearly all Member States offer visa and work permit free routes for musicians and creative performers.

• Portable musical instruments, carried or in a vehicle, can be transported cost-free and should not require ATA Carnets; and

• Small ‘splitter vans’ are not subject to the Trade and Cooperation Agreement limits around haulage for the creative sectors and ‘cross trade’. In addition, the Government has introduced dual registration to support specialist hauliers, meaning they can benefit from more generous market access arrangements in Great Britain and the EU.

GATT dispute reports are often considered at the World Trade Organisation in dispute settlement proceedings. However, GATT dispute reports do not set precedents in the way that judgments do in the domestic legal system.

The particular case referred to (GD/54) was settled following consultations (SR.18/4) and never came before a GATT adjudicator. There was therefore no GATT dispute report for this case.