# CE2004078EN.01024801.xml

| 27.3.2004 | EN | Official Journal of the European Union | CE 78/248 |
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27.3.2004

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

CE 78/248

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(2004/C 78 E/0251)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3278/03

by José Ribeiro e Castro (UEN) to the Commission

(5 November 2003)

Subject:   Macao — Forum for Economic and Trade Cooperation

Subject:

The Ministerial Meeting of the Forum for Economic and Trade Cooperation between China and Portuguese-speaking Countries was held in Macao on 12, 13 and 14 October this year.

It was referred to explicitly in the EP resolution, adopted on 8 April 2003, on the report from the Commission to the Council and the European Parliament on the Macao Special Administrative Region: First and Second Annual Reports, in which the EP pointed out that ‘Macao, because of its history and longstanding links with Europe, in particular through Portugal, is well placed to act as a bridge between the European Union and the People's Republic of China (PRC)’ and that ‘the governments of the MSAR and the PRC have both recently laid down and have been implementing a policy seeking to capitalise on Macao's position as a hub for China's relations with the entire Portuguese-speaking world’.

According to the information available the meeting went well and was most promising.

These developments are of major importance for Europe in general and the EU in particular, since they create a new opportunity for two-way international cooperation with China, based on the third most important European language spoken worldwide, Portuguese, and with Macao as the hub.

Can the Commission therefore say:

| — | whether it sent any representatives or observers to the meeting; |
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whether it sent any representatives or observers to the meeting;

| — | what information it has gathered and what conclusions it has drawn; |
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what information it has gathered and what conclusions it has drawn;

| — | what effect these matters will have on enhanced European cooperation with Macao, as mentioned in the EP resolution adopted on 8 April 2003? |
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what effect these matters will have on enhanced European cooperation with Macao, as mentioned in the EP resolution adopted on 8 April 2003?

Answer given by Mr Patten on behalf of the Commission

(11 December 2003)

(11 December 2003)

The Commission was not invited to participate in the first forum for economic and trade cooperation between China and Portuguese-speaking countries held in Macao on 12, 13 and 14 October. It was therefore not represented at this meeting.

Nonetheless, it has taken note of the signing of an action plan for economic and trade cooperation between China and the seven Portuguese-speaking countries and of the ‘hub’ role for relations between the two parties assigned to Macao by the forum's participants. The Commission also notes with interest the Special Administrative Region's designation as the forum's permanent secretary for the organisation of a second meeting in 2006.

The Commission notes that these fresh developments follow on from its own communication on Macao dating back to 1999 (1), which states that in the EU's view Macao has a key role to play as a bridge between Asia and Europe. That role is reflected in current cooperation between the Commission and the Special Administrative Region of Macao.

1

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(1)  COM(1999) 484 final.

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