15 MAR 193 10:53
CONFIDENTIAL
FM UKREP BRUSSELS
TO PRIORITY FCO
TELNO 267
CONFIDENTIAL
MKT
RECEIVED IN
17 FEB 1993
40011
STRY
DESK CHACCUA
REGISTRY
INDEX
PA
Adion Taken
OF 111815Z FEBRUARY 93
15
P.2
155571 MDLIAN 3613
My Convoy or
Hong Kong Dept.
INFO PRIORITY PEKING, HONG KONG, UKREP JLG HONG KONG
a
HONG KONG TELNO 60: EC DELEGATION OFFICE IN HONG KONG
SUMMARY
•
COMMISSION DRAW LINK BETWEEN PRIVILEGES AND IMMUNITIES ISSUE AND ROLE OF EC DELEGATION IN UNDERPINNING HONG KONG'S ECONOMIC AUTONOMY AFTER 1997. THEY PROPOSE A PRAGMATIC, INTERIM ARRANGEMENT TO PERMIT RAPID ESTABLISHMENT OF THE DELEGATION, COUPLED WITH A COMMITMENT TO PROVIDE AN ENHANCED LONG-TERM STATUS THROUGH LEGISLATION AND CONSULTATION WITH CHINA. COMMENT,
DETAIL
2. WE DISCUSSED THIS ON 11 FEBRUARY WITH NUTTALL (DIRECTOR, FAR EAST, IN DGI). WE SAID THAT WE HAD ENCOURAGED THE COMMISSION LAST YEAR TO DEAL DIRECT WITH HONG KONG GOVERNMENT REPRESENTATIVES ON THE CONDITIONS FOR ESTABLISHING THE EC DELEGATION IN HONG KONG. BUT WE WERE CONCERNED THAT DIFFICULTIES OVER PRIVILEGES AND IMMUNITIES WERE CAUSING DELAYS. THE HONG KONG GOVERNMENT HAD MADE THE BEST OFFER OPEN TO THEM UNDER THE EXISTING LEGISLATION. HOPED THAT AGREEMENT COULD BE REACHED BEFORE THE GOVERNOR'S MEETING WITH DELORS ON 2 APRIL.
3. NUTTALL AGREED ON THE URGENCY. OTHERWISE THERE WAS A RISK THAT THE RESOURCES FOR SETTING UP THE DELEGATION MIGHT BE REALLOCATED. THE COMMISSION'S DIFFICULTIES DID NOT ARISE FROM NARROW CONCERNS OF PROTOCOL, BUT FROM THE ESSENTIAL PURPOSE OF THE DELEGATION. WAS TO ESTABLISH AN EXCLUSIVE HONG KONG-EC RELATIONSHIP THAT WOULD CONTINUE THROUGH THE 1997 TRANSITION AS AN EXPRESSION OF HONG KONG'S AUTONOMY IN ECONOMIC AFFAIRS AND THE COMMUNITY'S COMPETENCE IN THE SAME AREA. THE DELEGATION MUST HAVE A STATUS WHICH WOULD SURVIVE THE TRANSITION. NUTTALL ACCEPTED THAT IN LEGAL TERMS HONG KONG COULD NOT COMMIT THE PRC ON THE POST-1997 STATUS OF THE DELEGATION. WHAT HE WAS LOOKING FOR WAS A PRE-1997 STATUS WHICH WOULD OFFER THE BEST PROSPECT OF SURVIVING THE TRANSITION UNCHANGED. HENCE THE COMMISSION'S PROPOSAL THAT THE PRIVILEGES AND IMMUNITIES OF THE DELEGATION IN HONG KONG SHOULD BE MODELLED ON THOSE OF THE DELEGATION IN PEKING CESTABLISHED IN 1987).
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