Inauguration of the China-EU School of Law (Remarks by European Commission President, Jose Manuel Barroso)
Ladies and Gentlemen:
Tonight will be remembered as one of great significance for the development of the partnership between China and the European Union.
After many years of preparations, we are at last inaugurating a "flagship" of our strategic partnership: the China-EU School of Law.
I have supported this project from the moment of its conception, as indeed has Premier Wen Jiabao. This inauguration ceremony is evidence of our common determination to work together in order to bring our people closer and to shape a common vision of our future.
I am, therefore, very pleased to be here tonight, together with Executive Vice Premier Li Keqiang , to inaugurate this fruit of our partnership. I want to pass on a message of encouragement and friendship on behalf of the European Commission and all the governments and people of Europe to the first generation of students and the first leaders and lecturers of this school.
Through the study of law, this joint EU-China law school will act as a bridge between civilisations, between different judicial systems, while at the same time retaining mutual respect for our respective administrative and judicial models. The objective of this joint School is to achieve mutual understanding, to bring us closer together, to foster cooperation and partnership.
Being here tonight is especially meaningful to me as I was myself a law student at the University of Lisbon. And so I would like, first and foremost, to turn to you, the first generation of students at this China-EU School of Law.
You have been selected after a number of difficult tests. First of all, I would like to congratulate you. But I would especially like to invite you to keep up the high level of commitment and effort you have displayed so far, not only to ensure success in your difficult studies, but also to put the very high level of education you will receive here in this School to good use, in enterprises or to the service of your country.
Of course there are hundreds of law schools in China. But this one has a special mission. It will be international and European, and it is committed to the pursuit of excellence through the quality of its students and its professors.
I will not hide my ambitions for this project. When China and Europe join forces in a project, they bear the hopes of 500 million Europeans and 1.3 billion Chinese people. We cannot be content with just a half-success. We should aim to be the best.
Ladies and Gentleman,
In the management of our cooperation with China, we try to bring our mutual interests as close together as possible. In education, in a first phase, we have accompanied China in its development of primary education but also in technological and scientific education. Our Member States, including France, Germany, and the United Kingdom continue to set up engineering schools for specialised technicians.
Around fifteen years ago, China had an urgent need for good managers to modernise and run its big enterprises. In order to fulfil this need, we created a joint EU-China business school in Shanghai called CEIBS. CEIBS is now ranked the first of its kind in China and even in Asia, and is one of the top ten in the world. We continue to support it just as we cooperate closely with China's National School of Administration.
After helping to bring about a generation of engineers, which has driven the reconstruction of the country, and a generation of managers, we wish also to contribute to the emergence of great Chinese legal minds, who will in turn contribute to the development of Chinese society. We also hope that our young European jurists gain a better understanding of law and the judicial system in China.
It is, therefore, full of hope but with a strong sense of resolve that I am very happy to inaugurate today, together with Executive Vice-Premier Li Keqiang the China-EU School of Law.
Congratulations and thank you!
