Vicent Piket, head of the European Union Office to Hong Kong and Macau, says the for Hong Kong, the change will ‘not be that big’
STUART LAU AND GARY CHEUNG
UPDATED : Tuesday, 28 June, 2016, 11:14pm
Vincent Piket, head of the European Union Office to Hong Kong and Macau. Photo: Dickson Lee
The European Union’s top diplomat in Hong Kong has reassured residents that its ties with the city will remain “very close” even after Britain formally leaves the union.
Vincent Piket also dismissed concerns over access to the 27 member states for Hongkongers holding passports issued by the British government as “speculative”.
“We want to maintain very, very close relations with Hong Kong, as we do right now,” Piket, head of the European Union Office to Hong Kong and Macau, said in an interview with the Post on Tuesday.
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Questions emerged over the future arrangements for British passport holders after 51.9 per cent of voters cast in favour of leaving the EU last week.
Three million Hongkongers held British National (Overseas) passports as of last year, although many of them were also holders of the SAR passport.
“For Hong Kong, the change will not be that big,” Piket said.
The envoy emphasised that the United Kingdom remains, for now, a member of the EU. In the event that it leaves, he said: “Hong Kong’s relations with the ‘EU 27’ will not change in the future.”
He said Hongkongers will continue to “have full access to the EU” because the general practice is only to reject entry based on perception of illegal immigration.
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“I’m sad at the result of the referendum,” Piket said, before adding that the result has to be respected.
But Piket conceded there would be much more to do on Brussels’ part to regain the confidence of European citizens.
“Euroscepticism is a fact in Europe, not just in the UK but also in other member states,” he said. “One problem the EU always had is the difficulty of linking the positive changes in people’s lives to decisions made in the European Council, in the European Parliament, in Brussels.”
British Prime Minister David Cameron has refused to trigger Article 50 of the Treaty of Lisbon, meaning any formal application to leave the union will be handled by his Tory successor, expected to be chosen by September.
Negotiations on the UK’s future relations with the EU could take up to two years to be finalised.
http://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/1982752/eu-envoy-reassures-hongkongers-future-after-brexit
