FORMER Governor Chris Patten is to visit Hong Kong in December - en route to the handover ceremony in Macau.
Etienne Reuter, who heads the European Commission office in the SAR, said Mr Patten was expected to represent the body at the event, in his new role as Commissioner for External Relations.
The former Governor is also likely to spend several days in Hong Kong, in his first visit since he was mobbed during a book promotion tour last year.
'From the soundings I've taken so far I would expect him to meet a wide range of people,' said Mr Reuter, who is now in Brussels, where he will discuss the visit with Mr Patten.
While nothing has yet been arranged, Hong Kong officials predicted Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa and Chief Secretary for Administration Anson Chan Fang On-sang would almost certainly agree to meet him.
Although Britain's Foreign Office timidly excluded him from this week's Buckingham Palace banquet in honour of President Jiang Zemin, Mr Patten's formerly frosty relations with Beijing have thawed considerably in recent months.
There were smiles and handshakes during a recent first meeting with mainland officials in his new role. A source said that when the former Governor was introduced to the Chinese team at its mission in New York, Foreign Minister Tang Jiaxuan responded light-heartedly. 'Yes, Mr Patten's name is well-known in China,' he reportedly said.