• Enforced disappearances, rights, labour issues in focus as mission prepares report
• New scheme likely to become effective from 2027
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan needs to “do more” to meet its commitments under the GSP+ preferential tariff scheme, European Union Ambassador to Pakistan Raimundas Karoblis said on Wednesday, ahead of a review.
In an interview with DawnNewsTV, Ambassador Karoblis was asked whether Pakistan needed to do more to fulfil the scheme’s requirements. “Yes, we are saying that,” he replied. “We are saying that it should be, well, needs to be, to do more.”
He said the visit would be a periodic monitoring mission to assess implementation of all necessary United Nations conventions, with “quite a lot” of meetings planned not only with state institutions but also with civil society organisations, human rights defenders, companies and workers.
A report would then be issued with recommendations based on findings of UN bodies that monitor the conventions, he added, stressing that implementation was “really important”. GSP+ status, granted by the European Union in 2014, has driven a 108 per cent increase in Pakistan’s textile exports to the bloc through concessional tariffs.
In October 2023, the European Parliament unanimously voted to extend the arrangement until 2027, allowing Pakistan and other developing countries to continue enjoying duty-free or reduced-duty access for most exports.
The upcoming GSP+ monitoring mission, delayed from June because of the Iran-Israel conflict, will scrutinise Pakistan’s compliance with 27 international conventions on human rights, labour rights, environment and good governance that underpin the trade scheme. Outlining areas of concern, the envoy pointed to human rights, the death penalty, blasphemy laws, enforced disappearances, minority rights, women’s rights, child labour and forced labour.
“It will probably be the last monitoring mission of the present GSP+ scheme, because the new scheme will enter into force soon, probably from 2027, and Pakistan will need to reapply in order if it would like to continue with the GSP+ preferences,” he said.
“So it means that the report of the monitoring mission will be one of the most important sources assessing the progress and compliance with Pakistani commitments vis-à-vis the UN,” he added. Mr Karoblis said the EU had already identified the main issues it was asking Pakistan to address, while noting that Brussels did see “certain progress”.
On enforced disappearances, he said the issue was one of the EU’s “priorities”. “We have questions and we see the problems in the context of the GSP+,” he said.
“Of course, we understand that some structures were established, such as the Commission of [Inquiry on Enforced] Disappearances. Of course, we will look into whether it is enough, whether it is sufficient, but of course, we will have a lot of questions on that for the institutions.”
Asked about the recently enacted 27th Constitutional Amendment, the envoy called it an “internal issue” but added that on judicial independence “we have different views”. He said the EU was seeking opinions from the opposition, think tanks, civil society and international organisations working in Pakistan. He also underlined the need to discuss recent military trials of civilians.
Noting a deteriorating human rights climate, former EU ambassador Riina Kionka had called on Pakistan in August to show ‘credible’ and ‘visible progress’ on human rights and labour reforms, signalling that the EU’s next trade preference scheme would demand stronger compliance.
“Pakistan needs to show more visible progress, especially ahead of the upcoming GSP+ monitoring mission in November,” she said.
Similarly, in January, the EU had warned Pakistan not to take its GSP+ status for granted. Olof Skoog, the EU Special Representative for Human Rights, had urged the government not to use military courts to pursue cases against citizens, and opposed recent moves to restrict freedom of expression.
Published in Dawn, November 20th, 2025
