Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/1999-12-15-Speech-3-046"
| Predicate | Value (sorted: default) |
|---|---|
| rdf:type | |
| dcterms:Date | |
| dcterms:Is Part Of | |
| dcterms:Language | |
| lpv:document identification number |
"en.19991215.4.3-046"2
|
| lpv:hasSubsequent | |
| lpv:speaker | |
| lpv:spoken text |
"This weekend I will be travelling to Macao to represent the Commission at the hand-over ceremonies. As honourable Members might imagine, there is a certain sense of
for me in all of this. Some might say that I am becoming rather an aficionado of hand-over ceremonies. I have been referred to by some as the last Governor but that has never actually been true. Certainly, my great friend and former colleague, Vasco Rocha Vieira, has more claim to the title than I do.
In making this statement this morning I want to place on record my admiration for all he has done in Macao in his long tenure as Governor. His distinguished record as a public servant of skill and integrity is, I am sure, recognised in his own country as it is in Macao, and in this Parliament as it is in the Commission. I am much looking forward to being able this weekend to salute that service as my gubernatorial colleague leaves his office.
Macao, like Hong Kong before it, will begin a new era after 19 December as a special administrative region of the People's Republic of China. It will be different but, in crucial respects, life must and will stay the same. That is what is meant by the concept of "one country – two systems" under which Macao, like Hong Kong, will retain its freedoms and fundamental rights and enjoy a high degree of autonomy as a special administrative region of the People's Republic of China. Those rights and freedoms, as the Presidency said a few moments ago, are set out in terms in the Sino-Portuguese Joint Declaration which both parties have solemnly pledged to uphold.
The European Union will continue to take a close interest in Macao after 19 December. The Commission has recently published a communication entitled "The European Union and Macao beyond 2000". The Council endorsed the communication last week and welcomed and reinforced the commitments it makes. In particular, the communication underlines the central importance we attach to the full implementation of the joint declaration. It makes clear that, as in the case of Hong Kong, the Commission will take a close interest in this matter and – again as we do for Hong Kong – we will publish an annual report on Macao. We will follow the implementation of international conventions of which Macao is a member, in particular the UN Covenants on Civil and Political Rights and on Economic, Social and Cultural rights.
We also intend to work to strengthen EU-Macao relations, notably by encouraging EU companies to continue to invest in the territory. The trade and cooperation agreement between the European Community and Macao, signed in 1992, will remain in force. The Commission welcomes the accreditation of a Macao economic and trade office to the European Communities. It will help to maintain and reinforce our dialogue on trade, economic and cooperation issues.
I feel strongly, as honourable Members will understand, about our continuing interest in Macao, about our continuing obligation. We want to have as good a relationship with the future chief executive of the special administrative region as we have had with my friend the present Governor. I would like to invite the chief executive to pay an early visit to Brussels; and it would also be good to welcome the chief executive of the Hong Kong special administration here when he can manage it or, alternatively, his internationally renowned deputy.
What is happening in Macao next Sunday is an important moment in Portugal's history, in China's history, in Europe's history.
Portugal, like the country I know best – or used to know best – has done its own best to discharge the responsibilities bequeathed by history honourably and well. We all have to take account of different circumstances, of different challenges; nothing is ever quite the same. But when I was in Hong Kong I always felt that when I talked to my colleague across the Pearl River Delta I was working with someone who shared my values and who had a profound sense of duty.
We all run our course. Portugal has run her course in Macao and is fortunate that her honour during this passage has been in the hands of Governor Vieira and his officials in the Government of Macao."@en1
|
| lpv:unclassifiedMetadata |
Named graphs describing this resource:
The resource appears as object in 2 triples