PAKISTAN is demonstrating measurable progress and legislative commitment over the past decade. It currently benefits from the European Union’s (EU) Generalized Scheme of Preferences Plus (GSP+) status. This preferential trade arrangement grants Pakistan duty-free or reduced-tariff access to the vast EU market, conditional upon the effective implementation of 27 core international conventions on human rights, labor standards, environmental protection and good governance. As the EU prepares for its critical review, the status has come under intense scrutiny, with statements like “do more” by EU Ambassador to Pakistan. This diplomatic pressure arrives despite a record of concrete reforms, setting the stage for a geopolitical debate over the scheme’s true purpose and the selective application of human rights concerns.
Pakistan secured GSP+ status in 2014. Since then, Pakistan’s exports to the EU have increased markedly which bolstered sectors like garments, home textiles and surgical instruments and provided much-needed foreign exchange. Crucially, Pakistan has remained engaged with the monitoring process, submitting detailed reports and hosting EU dialogue, using the GSP+ framework as a genuine driver for change. Since 2018, the country has enacted wide-ranging reforms to strengthen its human rights framework. Key legislative actions include Protection of Journalists and Media Professionals Act (2021), Anti-Rape (Investigation and Trial) Act (2021), Domestic Violence Acts (2020–22), Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act (2018) and Zainab Alert Act (2020)
While acknowledging that real problems remain, Pakistan’s progress must be viewed in context. Pakistan is acutely vulnerable to climate shocks and fiscal instability, having endured a balance-of-payments crisis and devastating floods in recent years. Furthermore, it continues to host a large number of refugees and manage significant internal security threats. In this challenging environment, expecting implementation identical to that of Western welfare states is unrealistic. However, the discourse surrounding GSP+ has been complicated by the increasing politicization of human rights.
The government of Pakistan has raised concerns that human rights narratives are being instrumentalized for political and geopolitical leverage. This is evidenced by the alleged use of the rights discourse by sub-kinetic proxies who are claimed to be acting as conduits for anti-state narratives and inciting ethnic discord. Issues related to terrorism and extremism must not be viewed through the lens of human rights at all. Further concerns are raised about the covert support allegedly provided by Hostile Intelligence Agencies (HIAs) to dissidents in exile in the West, who propagate destabilizing narratives against Pakistan via platforms like MEMRI and seemingly coordinated media campaigns on Balochistan between March and May 2025.
As the EU review progresses, the choice is not simply between rewarding slow progress and punishing it, but between recognizing difficult progress and dismissing it. Pakistan has ratified the necessary conventions, stayed engaged with the monitoring process and demonstrated a measurable commitment to reform despite severe economic and security constraints. A decision to maintain Pakistan’s GSP+ status, coupled with clear expectations for continued cooperation would reinforce the scheme’s core logic: that trade preferences can effectively anchor gradual improvements in human rights and governance in developing nations. Conversely, a withdrawal would signal that honest attempts at reform in a fragile environment are insufficient and will weaken incentive for future progress.
—The writer is an alumnus of QAU, MPhil scholar and a freelance columnist, based in Islamabad.
