Fighting for Scotland in the EU Council Chamber

I hope that he remembered the important thing - to leave enough time to load up with cheap booze at Luxembourg airport on the way home.

The Executive press release indicates a cabinet secretary quite pleased with himself:

Speaking in Luxembourg after attending his first European Agriculture and Fisheries Council meeting, Richard Lochhead, Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs and the Environment, said:
"It was a privilege to be the first Cabinet Secretary in the new Scottish Government to attend an EU council.
"It was very valuable to experience at first hand the process which determines the future of Scotland's fishing communities and to receive a warm welcome from Commissioner Borg and other fisheries ministers ...
"While this was a relatively low key Council meeting, I ensured that key Scottish concerns were reflected in the UK position.
"Watching 27 countries, some landlocked, debating fishing policy underlined the importance of giving the historic fishing nation of Scotland a much greater say on the future of our fishing communities."

Mr Lochhead will have realised how utterly tedious these meetings, especially the 'low key' ones, are. After the Presidency has welcomed everyone (taking at least 5 minutes), the Commission will present its proposal (10 minutes) and then there will be a tour de table where each Member State has in turn 5 minutes to state its view of the proposal (135 minutes); the Presidency will then sum up the discussion (10 minutes). Then it's time for lunch. The whole process will be repeated in the afternoon.

My only surprise is that Mr Lochhead is not staying for the Agriculture Council tomorrow. Then he could have experienced the tedium all over again.