The European Union has warned that Pakistan must accelerate reforms on human rights, governance, labour rights and environmental commitments to retain preferential access under the GSP+ trade scheme, despite remaining its largest beneficiary.
In its fifth monitoring report on the Generalised Scheme of Preferences (GSP), the European Commission and the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy said Pakistan recorded only limited progress during the 2023–2025 review period, while backsliding in several key areas.
Pakistan exported €7.5 billion worth of GSP+-eligible goods to the EU in 2024, primarily textiles and apparel, benefiting from an estimated €732 million in tariff savings. Since joining the scheme in 2014, Pakistan’s exports to the EU have grown by more than 91 percent, with exporters using over 95 percent of the available trade preferences.
The report acknowledged progress in areas including legislation to establish a National Commission for Minorities, implementation of rules under the Anti-Torture Act, a narrower application of the death penalty, continued suspension of executions, domestic violence legislation for Islamabad, Pakistan’s first marital rape conviction, ratification of the ILO Protocol on Forced Labour, stronger labour inspections and updated provincial child labour action plans.
However, the EU said most of these measures remain largely legislative and have yet to deliver meaningful improvements in practice.
The report highlighted concerns over enforced disappearances, alleged extrajudicial killings, restrictions on freedom of expression, weakening judicial independence, forced and child labour, violence against women, discrimination against minorities and persistent corruption.
Ahead of the revised GSP+ framework due to take effect in 2027, the EU urged Pakistan to strengthen accountability for human rights violations, reform prison and capital punishment policies, protect free expression, eliminate child labour and child marriage, enforce forced labour laws, safeguard minority rights and reinforce anti-corruption institutions.
The EU also noted that security challenges, governance weaknesses, climate-related disasters and economic pressures have affected Pakistan’s ability to fully implement its international obligations.
The European Union remains Pakistan’s largest export destination, accounting for about 28 percent of total exports, with textiles and clothing representing roughly three-quarters of shipments to the bloc.
