From 1998 to 1999, he chaired the
Independent Commission on Policing for Northern Ireland, better known as the
Patten Commission, which had been established in 1998 as part of the
Belfast Agreement. On 9 September 1999, the Commission produced its report, entitled
A New Beginning: Policing in Northern Ireland and popularly known as the
Patten Report, which contained 175 symbolic and practical recommendations. This report led to the disbanding of the
Royal Ulster Constabulary and establishment of the
Police Service of Northern Ireland. He is the co-chair of
International Crisis Group, overseeing many international operations. He is also a member of the
Global Leadership Foundation, an organisation which works to promote good governance around the world. On 23 May 2005 he was appointed by
Cadbury as a non-executive director.
European Commissioner: 1999–2004 ,
Colin Powell and
Javier Solana in March 2004 In 1999, he was appointed as one of the United Kingdom's two members to the
European Commission as
Commissioner for External Relations where he was responsible for the Union's development and co-operation programmes, as well as liaison with
Javier Solana, the
High Representative of the Common Foreign and Security Policy. He held this position within the
Prodi Commission from 23 January 2000 until 22 November 2004. Patten oversaw many crises in the area of
European foreign policy, most notably the failure of the European Union to come up with a common unified policy before the
Iraq War in 2003. Although nominated for the post of
President in the next Commission in 2004, he was unable to gain support from France and Germany. According to information from
WikiLeaks, Patten was in Moscow in April 2004 and had concluded EU–Russia ministerial consultations in Brussels. He considered that the EU had become overly dependent on Russian energy supplies, and should become more engaged with the countries of the
Caucasus and
Central Asia in order to diversify supplies. Patten was the biggest proponent in the commission for
Turkey's
accession to the European Union. Patten retired as chancellor of the University of Oxford on 31 July 2024, ahead of his 80th birthday and after 21 years in post. The election of his successor (
William Hague), to a ten-year term, was scheduled to take place in late October and early November. On 11 January 2005 Patten was created a
life peer as
Baron Patten of Barnes, of Barnes in the London Borough of Richmond.
Chairman of the BBC Trust: 2011–2014 On the advice of the
Conservative–Liberal Democrat coalition government led by Prime Minister
David Cameron, Patten was appointed by the
Queen-in-Council as Chairman of the
BBC Trust, and he took office on 1 May 2011, in the place of
Sir Michael Lyons whose contract was not renewed. During this time, Patten sat as a
crossbencher.
BBC royal river pageant outside broadcast As Chairman of the BBC Trust, Patten joined the Prince of Wales and other members of the royal family in the royal box for the Queen's Diamond Jubilee Concert. It came, however, immediately in the wake of widespread criticism of the BBC's live outside-broadcast coverage of the Queen's Diamond Jubilee River Pageant on 3 June 2012, which was castigated in the press and was the subject of 1,830 formal complaints by viewers. Patten said afterwards the Royal Pageant had not been the BBC's "finest hour" and admitted that "The tone was wrong."
Resignation in July 2020 Patten submitted his letter of resignation as BBC Trust Chairman to the Secretary of State on 6 May 2014; citing health reasons following his heart bypass surgery on 28 April. BBC Trust Vice Chairman
Diane Coyle took over as Acting Chairman until the appointment of a new chairman. He returned to sit with the Conservative party in the House of Lords in September of that year. In May 2016, Patten said that the BBC has "lost some of its ambition" in its coverage of science, philosophy and history, and should "stretch" audiences more. Patten bemoaned the fact that much of the corporation's high-brow programming had been moved to BBC Four, the digital channel, and given low budgets that meant shows were "sometimes made with glue and string". In a speech on the future of the BBC, which he said was "one of this country's greatest institutions", Patten called on ministers to respect the "besieged" broadcaster's independence, and set in place measures to stop it becoming "the plaything of the government of the day".
On China In September 2020, he wrote that "Chinese Communist Party general secretary
Xi Jinping's
dictatorship is certainly thuggish. Consider its policies in Xinjiang. Many international lawyers argue that the
incarceration of over one million
Muslim Uyghurs, forced sterilisation and abortion, and slave labour meet the UN definition of
genocide." Patten said that Chinese company
Huawei "is an agent of an unpleasant Chinese state." In May 2020, Patten said that there was a case for a multilateral mission to travel to
Wuhan to investigate the origins of the
COVID-19 outbreak. He argued the Chinese government had breached its obligations as a member of the
World Health Organization and the 2005
International Health Regulations treaty. He also added that Britain and other countries were not against the Chinese nation or people, praising China's medical workers who first responded to the virus, but stated "It is our relationship with the dangerous and immoral Communist Party. In Wuhan the Communist party used the police to try and shut the doctors up. Totalitarian regimes always rely on secrecy and mendacity."
On Hong Kong In the initial years after his tenure as Governor of Hong Kong ended Patten, by his own admission, chose not to directly comment on Hong Kong's affairs but in recent years has increasingly shared his views on Hong Kong in public talks and press interviews since the handover. During an interview with
The Wall Street Journal in 2013, he expressed the belief the
Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region would inevitably give citizens a greater say in public policy. He argued "You can't just give citizens the right to decide on economic and social policies, but on the other hand, you can't allow them to decide who will clean up the garbage, how their children will be educated, and how the health care policy will be implemented" and "anyone who tries to block the development of democracy will only be spitting in the wind." He reiterated that the
Sino-British Joint Declaration stipulated that Hong Kong and the United Kingdom need to maintain economic and cultural ties, emphasizing that "the United Kingdom has this interest and responsibility, and we must never forget it." On March 20, 2014, Patten gave a talk at the
Hong Kong Maritime Museum co-organized by
Oxford University where he expressed his views on
Hong Kong Basic Law and the "one country, two systems" principle. He opined that the situation in Hong Kong was good but not perfect but believed that the British people could have done more for political reform before leaving Hong Kong. He emphasized that political and economic freedoms are closely linked, and that when one freedom is eroded, the other will be affected. In July 2014, Patten criticised ''
The Practice of the 'One Country, Two Systems' Policy in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region'' white paper issued by the
People's Republic of China for interfering with Hong Kong's judicial independence. In an interview with the
Financial Times, he stated "In a system of rule of law, judges are independent and should not be questioned for instructions or forced to abandon their views on procedural fairness and what is legal due to certain political considerations." Patten also added that the Sino-British Joint Declaration signed that year was an international agreement between China and the United Kingdom, which guaranteed that Hong Kong would remain unchanged for 50 years, including the freedoms and civil liberties enjoyed by Hong Kong people. He said that if Hong Kongers believe that the Sino-British Joint Declaration has been undermined, it is completely reasonable to express concerns to China and Britain and lodge a peaceful protest. In a 2014 article for the
Financial Times, Patten argued the British government should not stay silent on China interfering with Hong Kong's judiciary and politics, arguing that the UK had a moral and political responsibility to speak out on the issue of universal suffrage in Hong Kong and ensure that China fulfilled its promises in the Sino-British Joint Declaration, reiterating that the agreement was international. The Chinese government had criticized Britain in harsh terms for interfering in China's internal affairs and Hong Kong's political reform, but Patten stressed that the UK should not fear economic consequences for speaking out against China as Britain was also obligated to ensure the Joint Declaration was respected and that China itself would suffer economic repercussions if it cut ties with the West. In November 2014, Patten gave evidence to a hearing of the
Foreign Affairs Select Committee on the implementation of the "Sino-British Joint Declaration" in Hong Kong. Patten said that the
Hong Kong Police Force is one of the top police forces in the world, but they had become a basis for politics. Patten argued that Hong Kong's problem is a serious lack of leadership and the chief executive and the SAR government have the ability to pressure and convince demonstrators to negotiate, temporarily end protest, and return to school or work. Citing words by
Joshua Wong, Patten believed that young Hong Kong people are afraid of having their future stolen. In June 2015, Chris Patten was interviewed by Hong Kong newspaper
Apple Daily. He expressed the belief that even if a political reform plan is rejected, Hong Kong's democracy will not reach a dead end and was confident that Hong Kong will one day have democracy. In 2016, Patten expressed opposition to hypothetical
Hong Kong independence, arguing such a move "dilutes support for democracy" and that moves towards universal suffrage in Hong Kong should not be conflated with independence. Patten undertook a tour of Hong Kong in November 2016 where gave a public lecture at the
Foreign Correspondents' Club and later spoke at a student forum organised by the
University of Hong Kong. He emphasized that the cornerstone of Hong Kong's success lies in the rule of law, which is guaranteed by the Sino-British Joint Declaration. He also addressed the
Causeway Bay Books disappearances, saying he was saddened such an incident had happened in Hong Kong and asked why the international community paid so little attention. He did not directly comment on the performance of Chief Executive
Leung Chun-ying, but argued Hong Kong's Chief Executive should face Beijing on behalf of Hong Kong people, not Hong Kong people on behalf of Beijing. In a 2017 interview with BBC's
Newsnight Patten expressed regret that many Hong Kong people do not feel that Britain has ever truly stood up for its commitments and responsibilities but also criticised the idea that Britain was "kowtowing to China" politically for the sake of trade. He argued that during the last ten to fifteen years of British rule in Hong Kong, more democracy should have been promoted and that if Hong Kong had more years of democratic experience, it would be more difficult for the Chinese government to reverse Hong Kong's democratic process and all Hong Kongers would have openly noticed any
democratic backsliding. In 2020, he criticised the new
Hong Kong national security law as an "outrageous act" and accused the
Chinese Communist Party of seeking to "destroy" Hong Kong. He also said the British government should not see trade as a reason to avoid condemning the law and demand that China respect its end of the Joint Declaration, stating "we keep on kidding ourselves that unless we do everything that China wants we will somehow miss out on great trading opportunities. It's drivel." In a 2022 interview with London-based Hong Kong
YouTube channel
Green Bean Media Patten expressed that he was angry and sad about the current situation in Hong Kong. He said "Hong Kong should have been an extraordinary place, but we saw it destroyed by a brutal ideology and a group of traitors" and described the situation as "very frustrating." He also praised Hong Kong citizens who immigrated to the UK for their contributions to British life. In March 2023, Patten was one of 47 British lawmakers to sign an open letter urging the Hong Kong authorities to release
Claudia Mo on humanitarian grounds to visit her critically ill husband in hospital.
On Northern Ireland Patten contributed to post-conflict reform in
Northern Ireland, most notably as the architect of the
Patten Report which laid the foundation for modernising the region's policing service following the
Good Friday Agreement. Appointed to lead the Independent Commission on Policing for Northern Ireland in 1998, Patten oversaw a comprehensive review that culminated in recommendations for the creation of the
Police Service of Northern Ireland to replace the
Royal Ulster Constabulary. Patten stated: "The report took about a year or a year and a half but it's the bit of work I'm proudest of. I loved the job in Northern Ireland. I loved being a European Commissioner — but the job of which I'm proudest is Northern Ireland. In a way that some people would think was a bit self-regarding, I sort of think of it as part of my genuflection to my past". == Personal life ==