ISLAMABAD:
Pakistan has emerged as the biggest beneficiary of the European Union’s GSP+ trade scheme, recording €7.5 billion in exports to the EU in 2024 under preferential tariffs, according to the fifth GSP report released on Thursday, which assesses the implementation of 27 key international conventions in beneficiary countries.
The report adds that Pakistan also achieved an impressive utilization rate of over 95%, highlighting its effective use of trade benefits offered under the programme.
The GSP+ agreement, which gives developing countries reduced or zero tariffs in exchange for progress on human rights, labor standards, environmental protection and good governance, has played an important role in boosting Pakistan’s export sector. The country outperformed other GSP+ members, with the Philippines and Sri Lanka lagging behind in export value.
However, the European Union expressed “serious concerns” about the deterioration in the implementation of human rights conventions, particularly in the areas of freedom of expression and media, extrajudicial killings and peaceful assembly, and urged Pakistan to repeal or amend laws, including Pakistan’s Electronic Crimes Act.
In its GSP+ monitoring report, the 27-nation club asked Pakistan “to ensure greater eligibility for GSP+ and compliance with international commitments”, it has to reverse the negative developments that took place between 2023 and 2025.
“Serious concerns remain, as significant systemic challenges persist in the implementation of human rights conventions, with a deteriorating situation relating, in particular, to enforced disappearances, minority rights, freedom of the media and freedom of expression and peaceful assembly,” the report published on Thursday states.
He added that impunity for human rights violations remains a cause of great concern.
The EU said Pakistan needed to take strong steps to reverse negative trends regarding enforced disappearances and violations of freedom of expression. “In this regard, laws on blasphemy, cybercrime (such as PECA), defamation, counterterrorism and sedition should be amended or repealed.”
The EU said that, in view of revised GSP rules from 2027, key priorities for future engagement include ensuring accountability for human rights violations; greater efforts against torture; capital and prison punishment reforms; reverse negative developments regarding enforced disappearances and violations of freedom of expression.
It has also called on Pakistan to effectively address violence against women; ensure children’s access to education; end child marriage; effectively implement action plans recently established by provinces and territories to eliminate child labor; intensify enforcement of existing laws against forced labor; stop discrimination against minorities; strengthen the independence, impartiality and operational capacity of anti-corruption bodies at the federal and provincial levels.
The report noted that during the monitoring period 2023-2025, Pakistan has been facing compliance issues with its GSP+ obligations. “It has regressed in several areas, while positive changes were limited.”
Pakistan has benefited from the EU’s Special Agreement on Incentives for Sustainable Development and Good Governance, known as GSP+, since 2014, and remains its largest beneficiary with €7.5 billion in GSP+-eligible exports to the EU in 2024. EU imports from Pakistan in 2022-2024 remained high, peaking at €9.4 billion in 2022. and then falling to €8.3 billion in 2024, reflecting a broader slowdown in EU demand.
Pakistan remained the largest beneficiary of GSP+ and the EU its largest export market, accounting for 28% of its total exports, with textiles and clothing accounting for approximately 70% to 76% of the country’s exports to the EU in 2024.
The report further noted that significant concerns remain, generally affecting the rule of law and civil society space. Forced disappearances and extrajudicial executions increased, without perpetrators being held accountable.
The EU monitoring mission wrote that freedom of expression deteriorated due to new amendments to cybercrime, anti-terrorism and blasphemy laws, allowing the use of vague provisions against dissidents, human rights defenders, journalists, minorities and ordinary citizens.
“This includes criminal and administrative proceedings that may result in imprisonment, financial confiscation or refusal to travel abroad.”
He also said recent constitutional amendments have been criticized for further undermining judicial independence. Added to this were problems such as obstacles to a fair trial and access to justice.
Political rights
The report states that political rights are negatively affected by, among other things, abusive judicial procedures and the detention of opposition leaders and supporters, including a former Prime Minister, with concerns in terms of fair trial and conditions of detention, including in relation to access to lawyers, visitors and medical assistance.
The EU said that during the 2023-25 reporting period, limitations on freedom of expression and access to information remained serious and persistent.
Despite the adoption of the Protection of Journalists and Media Professionals Act, press freedom in Pakistan deteriorated further and the working environment for journalists became increasingly hostile and dangerous, including reported instances of intimidation, administrative and judicial harassment, and violence against journalists covering sensitive issues.
“Targeted litigation (strategic lawsuits against public participation”) is sometimes used to prevent journalists and lawyers from doing their work. Legislations such as Pakistan Electronic Crimes Act (PECA) and criminal laws on defamation, blasphemy, sedition and counter-terrorism contain vague concepts of hate speech, defamation, terrorism and fake news, he added.
The EU said that without effective safeguards against abuses, the application of these laws has a significant chilling effect on dissidents, journalists, human rights defenders and individuals belonging to ethnic or religious minorities. According to the report, internet connectivity was also frequently restricted, especially around the 2024 elections and in Balochistan, as well as before and during the protests.
Progress
The report has also noted progress in some areas, but says the progress was “limited” compared to the deterioration.
Notable developments included legislation to create a National Commission for Minorities, a reduction in the scope of the death penalty, the continuation of the de facto moratorium on executions and the adoption of implementing regulations for the Anti-Torture Law, he added.
The death penalty was abolished for railway sabotage, drug-related offences, harboring kidnappers and stripping a woman naked in public. Other legislative developments include a domestic violence bill for Islamabad. A first conviction for marital rape was an important milestone.
The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has become, together with the Ministries of Law and Justice as well as Human Rights, a key player in Pakistan’s efforts to respect, protect and fulfill its human rights obligations. Labor rights have seen progress with the ratification of the 2014 ILO Protocol to the Forced Labor Convention of 1930 and the expansion of monitoring mechanisms, but overall implementation remains weak.
New action plans have been adopted to address child labor, but child labor rates are only slowly declining. In general, most of the progress is legislative and administrative in nature and must translate into real improvements on the ground, according to the EU.
Pakistan’s fragile political structure, including the complex federal system and imbalances between provinces, as well as the role of the military in politics and the economy, created a major challenge to the country’s development, as did growing security concerns arising from internal militancy, terrorism, and conflict with neighboring countries.
The monitoring mission observed that Pakistan’s political landscape during the 2023-2025 monitoring cycle was shaped by persistent complaints about the integrity of the 2024 electoral process, harsh crackdowns on opposition party leaders and supporters, and increased military influence.
