ISLAMABAD: Pakistan faces an increasingly difficult battle to retain preferential access to the European Union market, with the EU’s ambassador warning that the country’s GSP+ benefits “cannot be taken for granted” as Brussels prepares to introduce a more demanding trade regime.
EU Ambassador Raimundas Karoblis said Pakistan would need to demonstrate concrete improvement in implementing international conventions covering human rights, labour standards, environmental protection and governance as it seeks admission to the successor GSP+ framework.
Pakistan has benefited from GSP+ since 2014, allowing many of its exports to enter the European market at reduced or zero tariffs. The EU accounts for around 28 per cent of Pakistan’s exports, making continued access particularly important for the textile and clothing industries.
The current framework expires at the end of 2026, although existing beneficiaries will receive transitional preferences until the end of 2028. The ambassador stressed that the transition should not be interpreted as an automatic rollover into the new system.
An EU assessment covering 2023-25 raised concerns over enforced disappearances, freedom of expression, minority rights, judicial independence, access to justice and forced labour. Pakistan’s Foreign Office has argued that the assessment did not provide a sufficiently balanced picture of the country’s performance.
The successor regime will expand the number of international conventions linked to GSP+ from 27 to 32. Pakistan has already ratified the additional conventions, but Brussels says effective implementation will be the critical test.
The economic stakes are substantial. In 2024, around €7.1 billion worth of Pakistani exports used GSP+ preferences, generating an estimated €732 million in tariff exemptions.