The 20th EU-Macao Joint Committee

The 20th EU-Macao Joint Committee meeting was held in Macao on 27 November 2015, in accordance with Article 16 of the EC-Macao Trade and Co-operation Agreement of 15 December 1992. The previous meeting was held in Brussels on 15 July 2014. The Delegation of the Macao SAR was led by Mr. Raimundo Arrais do Rosário, Secretary for Transport and Public Works. The Delegation of the European Union (EU) was led by Mr. Ugo Astuto, Acting Managing Director for Asia and Pacific, the European External Action Service. During the meeting, delegations of the Macao SAR and the EU reviewed the latest developments in their relationship, took stock of ongoing bilateral co-operation activities and explored new areas for further co-operation. Both sides welcomed the continued cooperation between the Public Administration and Civil Service Bureau of the Macao SAR and the Directorate-General for Interpretation of the European Commission for the training of qualified interpreters for the Macao SAR. A memorandum for a new phase of the 5-year training programme for interpretation was signed on 5 November 2015, following fruitful conclusions of two protocols for the periods of 2010-2014 and 2013-2016 respectively. The interpreter training programme meets the mutual needs of the Macao SAR and the EU for qualified interpreters for Chinese and Portuguese. The Third Macao SAR-EU Co-operation Programme in the Legal Field was adopted in the context of the Joint Committee meeting. The programme is aimed at strengthening the Macao SAR's legal system and improving training for the Macao SAR's legal practitioners. The first and second legal cooperation programmes were successfully completed in 2007 and 2013 respectively. Both sides agreed that legal cooperation was an important element of the Macao-EU bilateral relations. The Macao SAR and the EU authorities expressed their willingness to explore new areas of co-operation in areas of mutual interest, including cooperation and know-how exchange on combating human trafficking. The two sides launched a new phase in Macao-EU cooperation in research and innovation by promoting the participation of the Macao SAR’s research institutions and researchers in the EU's large Horizon 2020 programme. The Macao SAR side announced the set-up of a matching fund for financing the costs of the Macao SAR’s researchers participating in the Horizon 2020 programme. Finally, during the working luncheon the two sides discussed the economic developments in the Macao SAR and in the EU.