EU GSP+ Review: Pakistan Has Made Progress — But the Hardest Part of Reform Still Lies Ahead

For Pakistan, the European Union's GSP+ programme is about far more than trade.

It is about billions of euros in exports, hundreds of millions in tariff exemptions, the future of Pakistan's textile industry and, increasingly, the country's ability to demonstrate that reforms written into law can become real improvements in everyday life.

That is why the European Commission's latest assessment of Pakistan deserves careful attention.

The review, covering Pakistan's performance between 2023 and 2025, does not present a simple story of success or failure. Instead, it paints a more complicated picture.

Pakistan has made progress.

But progress alone is not the finish line.

The country has introduced reforms, strengthened certain legal protections and maintained its commitments under the GSP+ framework. At the same time, serious concerns remain over labour rights, freedom of expression, enforced disappearances, minority protections, judicial independence and human rights accountability.

The challenge facing Pakistan now is clear: turn reform into reality.

Why GSP+ Matters So Much

The European Union's Generalised Scheme of Preferences Plus gives developing countries preferential access to European markets in return for commitments to international conventions covering human rights, labour rights, environmental protection and good governance.

Pakistan has benefited from the programme since 2014 and remains its largest beneficiary.

The economic stakes are enormous.

In 2024, EU imports from Pakistan reached approximately €8.3 billion. Around €7.5 billion of those imports were eligible for GSP+ preferences, while Pakistan received an estimated €732 million in tariff exemptions.

The European Union is also Pakistan's largest export market, accounting for around 28 per cent of the country's total exports in 2024.

For a country whose manufacturing economy depends heavily on textiles and clothing, access to the European market is not a minor advantage.

It is a major economic lifeline.

Pakistan's GSP+ utilisation rate reached 95.1 per cent in 2024, underlining just how deeply Pakistani exporters depend on the preferential access provided by the programme.

But GSP+ was never designed to be simply a trade deal.

Its larger purpose is to encourage countries to improve institutions, strengthen rights and gradually build better systems of governance.

And this is where Pakistan's latest review becomes especially important.

Pakistan's Reform Journey Has Not Stood Still

One of the clearest findings from the European Commission's assessment is that Pakistan has continued to engage with the GSP+ process.

The country maintained ratification of all 27 international conventions required under the programme and broadly complied with reporting obligations to international monitoring bodies.

That continued engagement matters.

Reform is rarely a single event. Countries do not transform their institutions overnight through one law, one policy or one government announcement.

Real change usually happens gradually—through legislation, institutions, enforcement, monitoring and, eventually, changes that ordinary people can actually experience.

Pakistan's recent record reflects parts of that process.

The country narrowed the scope of the death penalty by removing four offences, while no executions have taken place since December 2019.

A National Prison Reform Action Plan was introduced, alongside a dedicated task force, training programmes and grievance mechanisms.

These measures have not solved every problem within Pakistan's prison and criminal justice systems.

But they represent movement.

And in a reform process, movement matters.

Important Steps for Women and Children

Pakistan also recorded significant developments concerning women's rights.

The Domestic Violence (Prevention and Protection) legislation for Islamabad Capital Territory helped address an important legal gap.

Meanwhile, a conviction for marital rape in Sindh in 2024 represented a significant legal development with implications far beyond a single courtroom.

Pakistan also introduced a national strategy to address technology-facilitated gender-based violence, recognising a growing reality of modern life: threats to women do not exist only in homes, workplaces and public spaces. They increasingly exist online as well.

For children, progress was also recorded.

Pakistan abolished child marriage for Christian communities through the Christian Marriage (Amendment) Act 2024. Islamabad and Balochistan later introduced legislation criminalising child marriage.

The country also declared a nationwide education emergency in 2024 and followed it with an action plan that included school reopenings, teacher recruitment and infrastructure development.

These developments matter because laws protecting women and children are not simply legal documents.

Their real purpose is to change lives.

A law against child marriage means little if vulnerable children remain unprotected.

An education plan means little if children remain outside classrooms.

And protections against violence only matter when victims can realistically access justice.

That is the difference between announcing reform and delivering it.

Labour Rights: The Biggest Test of Implementation

Perhaps nowhere is this challenge clearer than in Pakistan's labour sector.

Pakistan ratified the 2014 Protocol to the International Labour Organization's Forced Labour Convention in March 2025.

Provincial governments also adopted plans aimed at eliminating child labour, while several provinces improved their data collection through child-labour surveys using International Labour Organization methodology.

Pakistan additionally published a gender pay-gap study and developed a wage-reform action plan.

On paper, these are important developments.

But workers do not experience reform on paper.

They experience it in factories, farms, workshops and workplaces.

The European Commission's assessment makes clear that forced labour and child labour remain serious concerns requiring sustained attention.

Workers can also face practical and financial barriers when attempting to enforce rights that are already guaranteed under Pakistani law.

This is one of the defining challenges of Pakistan's governance system.

The country does not always lack laws.

Too often, it lacks the capacity, enforcement and accountability needed to make those laws equally meaningful for everyone.

Progress and Problems Can Exist at the Same Time

The debate surrounding Pakistan's GSP+ review should not fall into extremes.

It would be inaccurate to describe Pakistan as a country that has made no progress.

It would be equally inaccurate to suggest that legislative reforms have solved the country's institutional challenges.

Both realities exist at the same time.

Pakistan has introduced reforms.

Pakistan also faces serious problems.

The European Commission identified continuing concerns relating to enforced disappearances, freedom of expression, media protections, minority rights, judicial independence and mechanisms for addressing human rights concerns.

These issues cannot simply be ignored because progress has been made elsewhere.

But recognising them does not require dismissing the reforms that have already taken place.

A mature assessment must be able to hold both ideas together.

Pakistan's reform journey is real.

It is also incomplete.

What Pakistan Must Do Next

The next stage will likely be the most difficult.

Passing legislation is often easier than building institutions capable of enforcing it consistently.

Pakistan now faces an implementation agenda that includes stronger enforcement of labour laws, continued action against forced and child labour, improved protections for minorities and stronger safeguards for freedom of expression.

Further reforms are also needed in prisons, criminal justice, human rights accountability and anti-corruption institutions.

But Pakistan should not view this agenda simply as a list of demands coming from Brussels.

These reforms are in Pakistan's own national interest.

A worker who can access justice contributes to a stronger economy.

A journalist who can report freely helps society identify problems before they become crises.

A child who receives an education becomes part of the country's future workforce.

A stronger judicial system gives citizens and investors greater confidence.

And institutions that operate predictably make a country more stable and economically attractive.

In other words, the standards connected to GSP+ are not separate from Pakistan's development.

They are closely connected to it.

Trade and Reform Do Not Have to Be Enemies

There is sometimes a tendency to view international scrutiny and national sovereignty as opposing forces.

But Pakistan's experience with GSP+ demonstrates that trade and reform can reinforce each other.

Preferential access to European markets gives Pakistan a powerful economic incentive to maintain international commitments.

At the same time, the reforms encouraged through the process can strengthen the country's institutions and improve long-term economic prospects.

The relationship works best when scrutiny is combined with dialogue.

Pakistan needs to continue demonstrating measurable progress.

The European Union, meanwhile, needs to ensure that GSP+ remains a tool of constructive engagement rather than becoming a narrow political checklist.

The goal should be improvement.

Not perfection overnight.

The Real Test Begins Now

The European Commission's latest assessment should not be treated as a certificate of success.

Nor should it be treated as evidence of failure.

It is better understood as a snapshot of a country still in the middle of a difficult reform journey.

Pakistan has taken meaningful steps.

It has maintained international commitments, introduced important legislation and developed new policies and institutions.

But the real measure of those reforms will not be found only in official documents or international reports.

It will be found in whether workers can claim their rights.

Whether children remain protected.

Whether women can access justice.

Whether minorities feel secure.

Whether institutions can act independently.

And whether ordinary Pakistanis can see the difference between promises made and progress delivered.

That is where Pakistan's next chapter begins.

The country has already shown that reform is possible.

Now it must prove that reform can last.

Because Pakistan's future under GSP+ will not ultimately depend only on the laws it passes or the commitments it signs.

It will depend on something far more difficult—and far more important:

whether those promises can become part of everyday life.

Disclaimer

This article is based on publicly available reporting and information regarding the European Commission's assessment of Pakistan under the GSP+ framework. It is intended for informational and educational purposes and does not represent legal, diplomatic or official policy advice.

Published on Chatzyr.net

Written By Editorial Desk | Team ChatZyr