Brussels, 05/12/2012 (Agence Europe) - The EU has welcomed the adoption by the former Portuguese colony, now a special Chinese administrative region, of a new copyright code.
The 17th session of the joint EU/Macau committee, which was held in Brussels on 4 December, was able to assess the progress in cooperation between the two partners since the return to Chinese sovereignty in 1999. Macau informed the EU of recent developments with its economy, which experienced sustained growth in 2012; its urbanisation plans on the island of Hengqin; the development of new infrastructure; its economic partnership with continental China; and its diversification efforts. The parties welcomed the “satisfactory” implementation of their legal cooperation project aiming to reinforce the public administration and legal and judicial expertise of Macau, and of the information programme targeting EU businesses, but also this year's successful launch of a university programme to raise awareness of the EU in Macau. Lastly, the EU particularly welcomed the adoption of Macau's new code on copyrights and its commitment to block the retransmission of pirate signals in all areas, for example by applying the criminal sanctions provided for by the new code. (EH/transl.fl)