The European Union (EU) has decided to grant visa-free access to Hong Kong and Macao Special Administrative Region (SAR) passport holders, according to an agency report.

Portugal's national news agency, Lusa, reported that a preliminary decision had been made in Brussels by a plenary meeting of the EU's justice and home affairs ministers on Friday.

Lusa quoted Portugal's Home Affairs Minister Nuno Severiano Teixeira as saying the "political" decision still needed to undergo "technical negotiations" between the European Commission (EC) and the SARs' authorities over the next few months.

Teixeira was quoted as saying the decision would need to be consulted in the European Parliament, adding that the European Commission still had to sign an agreement with Macao and Hong Kong regarding the repatriation of illegal immigrants from the two territories.

The report, which appeared on Saturday, quoted Teixeira as saying that the EC would "immediately start contacts with the authorities of the two regions."

Lusa's report added that EU Commissioner Antonion Vitorina said visa-free entry was not expected to be implemented before the end of next year.

A Hong Kong government spokesman said in a statement that the administration had been following the EU's deliberations closely and said the government understood that "good progress has been made on granting visa-free access to Hong Kong."

"Should the EU decide to grant visa-free access to HK SAR passport holders, this would be a major breakthrough in our campaign to enhance travel convenience for Hong Kong residents," he said.

However, he added that "pending an official announcement by the EU, the government will not comment further at this stage."

(China Daily 12/03/2000)