RESTRICTED
Kong ever since their decision to establish an EC Delegation Office in Beijing (which opened in May 1988).
4. At the time, a major aim was to underline the territory's autonomy in matters commercial and economic post-1997. The Joint Declaration provides that post 1997 the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR) may on its own maintain and develop economic and trade relations with all states and regions. We therefore successfully argued that the office should be free standing and not subordinate to the Beijing office.
5. The Commission eventually agreed to set up an office in Hong Kong in the early nineties, providing finance was available within the budget. This was confirmed publicly in March 1990 during a visit to Hong Kong by Commissioner Andriessen.
But in
1991 the Commission gave higher priority to opening offices in Central and Eastern Europe. However, we continued to lobby, and in October 1991 the Commission sent an administrative officer to Hong Kong to make the practical arrangements for setting up in
1992.
6.
Premises have been leased, and the intention is that the Office should formally open in October. However, negotiations between the Commission and the Hong Kong Government over the question of privileges and immunities are proving difficult. two sides have yet to find common ground.
The Commission's Position
The
7. The Commission are seeking privileges and immunities for the Office in Hong Kong on a diplomatic scale, ie commensurate with those of the Delegation in Beijing. They argue that this is not a narrow question of protocol, but vital to establishing a Hong Kong-EC relationship which might 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. are also seeking assurances for the situation post-1997.
They
ASIA-PACIFIC/1207.HKsub
2
RESTRICTED