The European Commission likes to talk a lot about human rights, democracy, and the rule of law.
Its Generalised Scheme of Preferences Plus (GSP+) is meant to be a shining example: trade incentives in exchange for compliance with international conventions on human rights, labor rights, environmental protection, and governance.
On paper, it sounds noble. In practice, it is a betrayal—most acutely for the people the EU claims to champion: women, children, and religious minorities in countries like Pakistan.
Pakistan has been a beneficiary of GSP+ since 2014, enjoying duty-free access to the EU market. The scheme obliges Islamabad to implement 27 international conventions, covering everything from child labor and women’s rights to freedom of expression and protection of minorities.
Yet reports and investigations, including a recent EU Today study, paint a grim picture. Pakistan is plagued by systemic human rights abuses: misuse of blasphemy laws, persecution of Christians, forced disappearances, attacks on journalists, child labor, suppression of trade unions, and weak enforcement of labor regulations.
Despite these glaring violations, the European Commission has taken no concrete action to suspend Pakistan’s GSP+ status. Women face societal and legal discrimination; children are subjected to exploitative labor practices; Christians and other minorities live under constant threat. Every day the Commission allows Pakistan to continue enjoying preferential access to the EU market, it is failing those people. It is not just an institutional failure—it is a moral one.
The European Commission’s Inaction: A Question of Priorities
Belgian senator Bob De Brabandere, who organised a screening of the documentary GSP+: The EU’s Silent Compromise, at the Council of Europe, Strasbourg, did not mince words: “It is incomprehensible that a country is granted GSP+ status, and thus duty-free access to the European market, while it does not even meet the basic requirements for it.
“In doing so, we are not only actively supporting with European taxpayers’ money a regime that despises us, but also fuelling competition with our already fragile manufacturing industry.”
The EU is trading principles for trade benefits—and the cost is human suffering. Women in Pakistan continue to face systemic violence and legal discrimination. Children labor in hazardous conditions.
Christian communities are terrorized. And the European Commission remains silent. Its inaction is not neutrality; it is complicity.
Women at Risk
Pakistani women live under legal frameworks and social norms that curtail their freedom, limit their access to education and employment, and expose them to violence. Honor killings, forced marriages, and domestic abuse are far from rare. While the GSP+ scheme theoretically incentivizes improvements in women’s rights, the EU Commission has done little to leverage its economic influence to pressure Islamabad. The result: women remain trapped in systemic oppression while European markets profit from their country’s labor and resources.
Children Paying the Price
Child labor is another area where Pakistan falls short of GSP+ standards. Thousands of children are forced to work in brick kilns, textile factories, and other hazardous environments instead of attending school. These abuses are documented and well-known, yet the European Commission continues to turn a blind eye. By failing to suspend trade benefits or impose stricter conditions, the EU indirectly perpetuates the exploitation of children, betraying the very principles it claims to uphold.
Religious Minorities in Peril
Christians and other religious minorities in Pakistan face harassment, forced conversions, and attacks on their communities. Blasphemy laws are often misused to target minorities, with accusations sometimes leading to death sentences. The GSP+ framework should provide leverage to improve protections for these groups, but the EU’s silence allows systemic persecution to continue unchecked. When trade benefits are awarded while violations persist, it sends a message that commerce trumps human rights.
Trade vs. Morality: The EU’s Dilemma
Some argue that the EU must maintain economic ties for strategic or commercial reasons. But when these ties come at the cost of women, children, and religious minorities, the moral calculus is clear: trade cannot be prioritized over human life and dignity. The Commission’s reluctance to act exposes a troubling hierarchy of priorities—market access over the protection of the vulnerable.
Steps the EU Must Take
If the GSP+ scheme is to retain even a semblance of credibility, urgent reforms are needed:
Strict Enforcement: Compliance should not be optional. Countries violating conventions must face immediate review and, if necessary, suspension. The Commission cannot allow preferential access to persist while systemic abuses continue.
Transparent Monitoring: Reports on human rights and labor compliance must be publicly accessible, with clear benchmarks and deadlines. European citizens have a right to know where their trade policies are contributing to abuses.
Targeted Action for Vulnerable Populations: Women, children, and religious minorities must be specifically considered when assessing compliance. If these groups are being harmed, trade benefits should be suspended or conditioned.
Balanced Trade Measures: Abrupt withdrawal of preferences can harm workers in export sectors, but continued inaction is morally indefensible. The Commission must strike a balance, ensuring that enforcement measures do not punish the vulnerable while still holding governments accountable.
The Human Cost of Bureaucratic Delay
It is easy to frame GSP+ as merely a technical trade agreement. But the reality on the ground is stark: women are denied access to justice and economic opportunities; children are forced into dangerous labor; Christians are terrorized. Every month the Commission tolerates Pakistan’s non-compliance, it effectively endorses these abuses. The human cost is real, immediate, and entirely preventable.
The EU’s Credibility on the Line
The GSP+ scheme is intended to be a tool for progress, a way for the EU to promote human rights while supporting developing economies. In practice, it has become a tool for inaction. Pakistan’s continued access to duty-free markets without meaningful compliance undermines the EU’s credibility, both abroad and at home. Citizens across Europe, who expect their tax money and trade policy to reflect ethical principles, are left questioning whether the Commission truly prioritizes human rights over convenience.
Silence is Complicity
Trade preferences should be a lever for real reform. In Pakistan, they have become a shield for abuse. The European Commission’s silence is a betrayal of the very people it is supposed to protect: women, children, and religious minorities. The GSP+ scheme, in its current form, is a symbolic gesture that masks a failure of moral leadership.
The EU must stop tolerating violations and start enforcing its own standards. It must hold Pakistan accountable and ensure that trade benefits are contingent on genuine improvements in human rights and governance. Until that happens, the GSP+ label is not a badge of honor—it is a mark of shame. The Commission’s failure is not abstract policy; it is tangible harm inflicted on those with the least power to defend themselves. For the women, children, and Christians of Pakistan, silence is complicity.
It is time for the European Union to act—not just to preserve trade, but to protect the vulnerable and prove that its commitment to human rights is more than words on paper.
