The Manila Delegation is a fully-fledged diplomatic mission and has the task to officially represent the European Union in the country. It plays an essential part in its political, economic and commercial relations with the country and provides information on the policies and institutions of the EU. The Delegation also plays a crucial role in supervising the implementation of EU co-operation programmes in the Philippines a role that is steadily increasing in line with the deconcentration of co-operation activities from Headquarters to Delegations foreseen in the reform of the management of the EU's external assistance. The Delegations serve EU interests as a whole in 123 countries throughout the world, and at five centers of international organizations (OECD, OSCE, UN,WTO). The Delegation works closely with the diplomatic missions of the EU Member States, serving as a venue for meetings and press conferences that involve the EU as a whole, acting as the contact point for joint cultural initiatives, and offering the Member States resources for specific information such as EU market access to the Philippines. The Head of the Delegation is formally accredited as the official representative of the European Union to the Government of the Philippines and is referred to as His Excellency, Ambassador and Head of the Delegation of the European Union to the Philippines. The Delegation was officially opened in October 1990 following the influx of official development assistance to the country after democracy was restored under the Aquino administration in 1986. Since then, the Delegation has essentially been the information nerve center in the Philippines, keeping EU headquarters in Brussels aware of local developments and serving as the natural point of contact between the EU and Philippine officials. The Delegation has five sections: Contracts and Finance, Operations, Economic/Political/Trade, Public Affairs and Administration. Although it has the status of a diplomatic mission, it does not deal with tasks of a consular nature (like issuing visas or providing tourist information, which are dealt with by the EU Member State Embassies) and instead functions as an official channel of bilateral relations, be it political, development, economic or cultural.
