CES/09/117 25 September 2009 President Sepi's Declaration on the EESC mission to Tibet: "Our fact-finding mission in Tibet: first conclusions and main points for the Committee's incoming Report" Following our Delegation's visit to Tibet, which took place between 11 and 15 September at the invitation of the Economic and Social Council of China, I would like to stress a few main points which have characterised this mission and which will be crucial for the future steps and achievements that will follow this visit. It was my concern to hold a press conference on the day upon our return to Brussels, in order to provide journalists with the most genuine and fresh information, as regards our first impressions of Tibet, and in view of the elaboration of our report which we will finalise in the coming weeks, following the necessary discussions with the members of our Committee as well as further structural analysis of the several social and economic aspects involved. Our report will also incorporate the results of our discussions with representatives of the Tibetans in exile. It was also my concern to keep our public opinion informed during the whole mission, through a daily "Tibetan journal" which I published on my blog (http://eesc.europa.eu/organisation/president/Sepi/blog/index.asp) regularly from China. For these reasons, I think it is important to reaffirm some of the key points that have emerged so far, in coherence with a "step by step" communication strategy that we considered the best possible approach, in view of the importance and sensitivity of such mission. The EESC Delegation which took part in the visit was composed by other two members of the Committee, Peter Clever (D, Group I) and Sukdev Sharma (UK, Group III), and was accompanied also by two members of the EC Delegation in Beijing. Our mission was the first visit to Tibet, after the unrest of 2008 in Lhasa, by one of the EU institutions. The purpose of the visit, in the framework of the role and competencies of the European Economic and Social Committee, was to increase our knowledge of the social and economic conditions of TAR (Tibetan Autonomous Regions), in order to develop possible fields of cooperation between our civil societies, and to deepen the activities of the EU-China Round Table. Rue Belliard/Belliardstraat 99 – 1040 Bruxelles/Brussel – BELGIQUE/BELGIË Tel. +32 25469396 – Fax +32 25469764 E-mail: press@eesc.europa.eu – Internet: www.eesc.europa.eu