The parliament voted with 561 in favor, five against and two
in abstention to extend the current rules on the GSP schemes, including GSP
Plus, after talks with the EU Council on the new rules were paused in June, an
official statement issued by the EU Parliament said.
In September this year, the INTA Committee, a trade body of
the EU Parliament, approved the extension of GSP schemes for 60
developing countries.
Caretaker Commerce Minister Gohar Ejaz told Dawn that
the decision will ensure that Pakistani exporters can keep selling their goods
to the EU market with certainty. He said the EU is a major market for Pakistani
exporters, adding that all schemes under GSP were extended for four years.
“I take this opportunity to reiterate Pakistan’s commitments
under the scheme for the betterment of all,” the minister said, adding that
Pakistan will comply with all obligations and effective implementation of 27 EU
conventions.
EU Ambassador to Pakistan Riina Kionka in a post on X said
this rollover is proposed so as to avoid a cliff edge at the end of 2023. “It
is unrelated to Pakistan’s performance or that of any other beneficiary
country. EU member states will decide soon and monitoring will continue,” she
further said.
In another post, Ms Riina said that together with the EU
team, “I whole heartedly support the commitment of Minister Ejaz and government
of Pakistan to fully meet GSP+ obligations, referring to the implementation of
27 conventions on labour, human rights, political rights and press freedom.”
It is worth mentioning that the current GSP regulation was
set to expire at the end of this year, and negotiations between the EU
parliament and the council of member states took place in January 2023 to
establish new rules.
In June, talks were paused as the gap between the
position of the parliament and member states could not be bridged, and as a
result, the current rules were prolonged.
The draft report by rapporteur Heidi Hautala only amends the
date of application of the regulation currently in place, extending it until
December 31, 2027. The extension gives more time for the European Parliament
and member states to agree on the new rules.
“By dealing swiftly and efficiently with this prolongation
and rollover, the parliament underlines that it will not let beneficiaries
down,” the rapporteur said during the plenary on Wednesday.
“However, this rollover is an unfortunate consequence of not
being able to reach an agreement between the council and parliament on the
ongoing review of the GSP regulation,” she said, adding that there are two
outstanding issues: the link the council wants between tariff preferences and
the obligation of readmission, and safeguarding rice producers without creating
excessive trade barriers.
On the first issue, Hautala said, “The European Parliament’s
position is against the inclusion of this type of migration policy measures
because this is a trade and development policy instrument, which benefits two
billion people in the developing world.”
She added, “The trilogues will continue, and it is vital to
conclude them as soon as possible. Now it is very important that the parliament
and the Spanish presidency go the extra mile and make this review a reality.
This would require, however, a change in the approach by the council on the
question of readmissions. We need to preserve the GSP as a development tool.”
The EU Council is expected to give its final approval for
the extension of the current rules soon.
