Answer given by High Representative/Vice-President Borrell i Fontelles on behalf of the European Commission

14.7.2022

The EU has been critical of the deterioration of the situation in Hong Kong. The EU has expressed publicly and privately its position on the dismantling of the ‘one country, two systems’ principle which was guaranteed both by the Sino-British Declaration and by Hong Kong’s Basic Law, but has been eroded along with many civic freedoms for the people of Hong Kong.

Together with Member States, the EU continues implementing the July 2020 response package that includes measures on asylum/migration, dual-use control, and supporting civil society.

In December 2020, the EU sent a very clear message that human rights violations and abuses around the world will not go unnoticed, by establishing the EU Global Human Rights Sanctions Regime (EUGHRSR)[1].

Then, the EU showed in March 2021 that it is ready to react decisively to address such violations with the adoption of the first designations under the EUGHRSR.

Any decision to designate persons or entities under the EUGHRSR is for the Council to make, acting by unanimity. The process of preparing, discussing and adopting such decisions in the Council is confidential.

• [1] https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_20_2419