A joint staff working document published by the EU Council on 16 July 2026 assesses Pakistan's compliance with the EU Special Incentive Arrangement for Sustainable Development and Good Governance (GSP+) for the period 2023-2025, finding that the country has regressed in several areas while positive change remained limited. Pakistan, the largest GSP+ beneficiary with EUR 7.5 billion in eligible exports and EUR 732 million in tariff exemptions in 2024, faces potential loss of trade preferences unless it reverses backsliding on human rights, rule of law, and civil society space.
The assessment notes that Pakistan maintained ratification of all 27 GSP+ conventions and issued no new reservations, but lacks a system to follow up on treaty bodies' concluding observations. Progress includes legislation for a National Commission for Minorities, reduced scope of the death penalty, continued de facto moratorium on executions since December 2019, adoption of Anti-Torture Act implementing rules, the Domestic Violence Bill for Islamabad, and the first marital rape conviction in February 2024 in Sindh. However, significant concerns include increased enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings without accountability, deteriorated freedom of expression due to amendments to cybercrime, anti-terrorism, and blasphemy laws, and persistent forced labour.
On 19 June 2025, the European Commission adopted a safeguard measure suspending Pakistan's GSP+ preferences for non-fuel ethanol imports for two years (21 June 2025 to 20 June 2027). The assessment identifies key priorities for future engagement: accountability for human rights violations, reversing negative developments on enforced disappearances and freedom of expression, effectively addressing violence against women, ending child marriage, and eliminating child and forced labour.
The document accompanies a joint report to the European Parliament and the Council on the Generalised Scheme of Preferences covering 2023-2025. The revised GSP rules, effective as of 2027, raise the compliance bar, increasing pressure on Pakistan to address shortcomings or risk losing preferential access to the EU market.
EU producers in sectors competing with Pakistani imports may benefit if preferences are suspended, while Pakistani exporters face potential tariff increases of up to 9.6 percentage points on key products like textiles and leather. EU consumers could see higher prices for Pakistani goods if duties are reinstated. Human rights NGOs view the assessment as a tool to pressure Pakistan, while Pakistani authorities face a trade-off between economic benefits and domestic policy reforms.