British Embassy Q&A events in Austria

British Embassy Q&A meetings

Online Q&A: Thursday 23 September 2021

You can read the questions and responses from the embassy’s online Q&A session in September 2021:

UK nationals in Austria Q&A September 2021 (PDF, 833KB, 9 pages)

Online Q&A: April 2021

You can read the questions and responses from the embassy’s online Q&A session in April 2021.

Online Q&A: November 2020

You can read the questions and responses from the embassy’s online Q&A session in November 2020:

November 2020 Austria Q&A (ODS, 30KB)

November 2020 Austria Q&A (PDF, 339KB, 29 pages)

Online Q&A: July 2020

You can read the questions and responses from the embassy’s online Q&A session in July 2020: UK nationals in Austria Q&A July 2020 (ODS, 34.9KB)

Events around Austria

There are currently no events scheduled, but we will update this page should that change.

For the latest updates and information events:

The Austrian authorities have published information on preparations and have set up a special hotline: +43 (0) 800 222 666 (Mon-Fri 8am – 4pm).

This introductory speech from Ambassador Leigh Turner in December 2018 explained the situation for UK nationals in Austria and the Withdrawal Agreement:

You can find the text of that speech on Ambassador Turner’s blog.

Past events

Event Date
Online September 2021
Online April 2021
Online November 2020
Online June 2020
Graz 6 November 2019
Vienna 29 October 2019
Salzburg 22 October 2019
Innsbruck 18 October 2019
Eisenstadt 7 March 2019
Klagenfurt 3 March 2019
Bregenz 21 February 2019
Innsbruck 20 February 2019
Linz 14 February 2019
Vienna 13 February 2019
St. Pölten 12 February 2019
Graz 6 February 2019
Salzburg 3 February 2019
Linz 14 January 2019
Vienna 10 January 2019
Vienna 3 December 2018
Salzburg 26 November 2018
Graz 12 November 2018
Klagenfurt 11 November 2018
Innsbruck 20 October 2018
Bregenz 19 October 2018
Facebook Live Q&A 16 November 2017
Published 5 October 2018
Last updated 30 September 2021 + show all updates

  1. Added write up of online Q&A for UK nationals in Austria, September 2021

  2. Added details of online outreach event on 23 September at 3pm.

  3. Link to questions and responses from embassy Q&A in April 2021

  4. Added questions and answers from November 2020 online Q&A

  5. Added details of an online Q&A on 26 November 2020

  6. Added spreadsheet of questions and answers from online Q&A in July 2020.

  7. Added details of an online Q&A run by the British Embassy Vienna on Monday 6 July 2020.

  8. Due to the Brexit extension, the previously scheduled events in Klagenfurt (11 Nov) and Linz (13 Nov) have been postponed until further notice.

  9. Added links to event registration pages. Registration will open at midday a fortnight before each event, but you can sign up now using the links to receive a reminder email an hour before registration opens. Once registration opens, it will be available using the same links.

  10. Added details of new events in Innsbruck, Salzburg, Vienna, Graz, Klagenfurt and Linz in October/November 2019.

  11. Added videos of presentations from earlier Q&A events.

  12. Added link to Austrian Federal Chancellery Brexit website

  13. Added registration link for Vienna event

  14. Added location and registration link for Q&A event in Linz on Thursday 14 February 2019

  15. Updated venue of Burgenland Q&A event to Eisenstadt and added a registration link.

  16. Added registration links to events in St Pölten, Klagenfurt, Innsbruck and Bregenz

  17. Added provisional details of Brexit Q&A events in Graz, St. Pölten, Vienna, Linz, Innsbruck, Bregenz, Klagenfurt and Mattersburg

  18. Added new event in Salzburg on Sunday 3 February 2019

  19. Removed past Vienna event, added new date in January 2019

  20. Added information for LInz event.

  21. Listed past events and updated Salzburg event, which is now full.

  22. Updated info on Vienna outreach event.

  23. Added details of Vienna event

  24. Added time and location for event in Salzburg.

  25. New event dates added in Klagenfurt, Salzburg and Vienna.

  26. First published.




UK calls for states to protect immunisation programmes alongside search for Covid-19 vaccine

The UK has urged UN members to protect vital immunisation programmes across the world, while remaining focused on supporting the search for a coronavirus vaccine.

On July 15, the World Health Organization (WHO) and UNICEF warned of an alarming decline in the number of children receiving life-saving vaccines around the world due to challenges posed by the pandemic.

During a virtual event hosted by the UK and the UN Foundation today attended by 200 UN member state representatives, scientists and global leaders, Lord (Tariq) Ahmad of Wimbledon, said countries needed to not only come together to coronavirus, but also to ensure immunisation schemes continue to save lives from other infectious diseases such as measles, diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis polio and typhoid.

The UK is already a world leader in efforts to find a coronavirus vaccine and defeat other deadly infectious diseases.

Oxford University this week announced that early trials show its new vaccine produces a strong immune response to coronavirus, in research backed by £84 million of UK Government investment.

We also pledged £1.65 billion ($2 billion) to Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, earlier this year, to support immunising a further 300 million children against vaccine-preventable diseases and save up to 8 million lives by 2025.

Lord (Tariq) Ahmad of Wimbledon, Joint Minister of State for the UN at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and Department for International Development, said:

Diseases such as measles, polio, diphtheria and typhoid have already caused widespread devastation across the world for decades, but we cannot stop our work to suppress their impact.

We must continue to drive immunisation programmes for established vaccines while ensuring we unite to find and fund a global solution to combat the Covid-19 pandemic.

The UK and the UN Foundation continue with partners around the globe to support and drive a worldwide search for an effective Coronavirus vaccine, as well as treatments and diagnostics.

The UK has already pledged £250 million ($315 million) to the Centre for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations’ (CEPI) international vaccine research, for example, the largest contribution of any nation.

The UK is also prioritising the secondary impacts of the pandemic, particularly on essential health services, to ensure routine immunisation programmes are maintained and restored.

The UK will continue to work with all of our international partners, including the G7, G20, the EU, the UN, World Health Organization and other multilateral institutions, to deliver a strong global health response during the global pandemic.




Defra updates in agri-food and environmental topics

News story

Round up of latest news from Defra related to agri-food and environmental topics

Harvester

Winners of the first round of ‘Transforming Food Production’ initiative

Defra has announced the successful R&D projects under the Transforming Food Production (TFP) programme. Nine innovative projects that apply big data, AI and robotics to UK farming will help establish a more efficient system of food production.

Details of the projects and the programme can be found on the press release.

Mapping recovery through environmental sustainability

Lord Goldsmith provided a statement at a WWF Side Event at the 2020 High-Level Political Forum on the Sustainable Development Goals.

For queries related to food and feed testing and the work of the Government Chemist please contact:

Published 22 July 2020




First Meeting of New Decade New Approach Joint Board

News story

A Joint Board established in the New Decade, New Approach (NDNA) agreement held its first meeting today.

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The Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, the Rt Hon Brandon Lewis MP CBE, First Minister, the Rt Hon Arlene Foster MLA and deputy First Minister, Michelle O’Neill MLA, attended.

The purpose of the Joint Board is to review use of funding provided under the NDNA agreement.

It will:

  • Support the Northern Ireland Executive in ensuring sound and stable governance that delivers for the people of Northern Ireland;

  • Review funding provided by the UK Government to meet commitments set out in the NDNA agreement;

  • Support transformation in health, education and justice through the NDNA funding package; and,

  • Consider the effectiveness of infrastructure delivery, drawing on expertise from the Infrastructure and Projects Authority as appropriate.

The Secretary of State, First Minister and deputy First Minister will lead the board, other Ministers will join the board as required.

In its first meeting, all participants reaffirmed their commitment to the NDNA agreement and to ensure that commitments set out in the agreement were delivered as a priority.

Terms of reference for the Joint Board were also agreed, consistent with the New Decade, New Approach commitment that the Board will have oversight for transformation in health, education and justice, where these draw on funding provided under the Agreement.

They agreed that a second meeting of the Joint Board should take place in September and that it should meet on a quarterly basis going forward.

Published 22 July 2020




Steerable Thrusters

As part of the UK Space Agency-funded NSTP Grants for Exploratory Ideas, project LIFT ME OFF (LMO) was awarded a grant to develop a steerable gimbal mechanism for chemical thruster applications. The design focused on creating an accurate gimbal with two-axis of rotation for vectoring a 1N rocket engine.

The goal was to make the gimbal accurate, repeatable and with small form factor.

Based on this, a gimbal mechanism was designed which can provide a +- 7.5⁰ half-cone angle around two axes with high accuracy and minimal repeatability errors. The gimbal was designed, built and tested in-house by LMO with an eye on minimising cost and lead-time.

The gimbal was successfully tested and characterised at LMO with accurate optical alignment equipment. Based on these results, LMO will be moving from the current TRL-3 status into their engineering model, which will be fully environmentally tested and bring the technology to TRL-5.

Based on the results from the engineering model, the gimbal will be qualified and flown in 2021 on a first propulsion system.

With NSTP funding from the UK Space Agency, LIFT ME OFF was able to increase its internal knowledge on propulsion systems and components. This knowledge enabled them to increase the in-house know-how in the fields of mechanisms for propulsion systems, as well as open new market opportunities and improving its capabilities.

This successful proof-of-concept adds valuable experience to LMO and what it can offer to the current and future space industry.

As part of this activity, LMO was also able to hire a new employee who, in a short turn-around, attended to the design, build and test of propulsion hardware providing a steep learning curve. The funding has provided a pivotal acceleration to LMO’s developments which otherwise would not have been possible.

The program success has led to Memorandums of Understanding with customers such as Open Cosmos, partnerships with companies such as Nammo UK and interest by the European Space Agency in LMO’s developments.