The European Commission, European Council and the European Parliament struck an agreement to revise the Generalised Scheme of Preferences (GSP), the EU’s sustainable development trade tool, for developing countries.  

The Commission welcomes this positive outcome, which brings certainty to the 65 developing countries benefitting from the scheme, and to EU companies importing goods from those countries. This is especially relevant at a time of increasing challenges for developing and least developed countries, such as recent increases in the use of trade tariffs. 

The new agreement will ensure that the EU scheme continues to promote sustainable development in vulnerable countries. The new text improves some of the key features of the scheme in responding to the evolving needs and challenges of GSP countries, as well as reinforcing the scheme’s social, labour, environmental, and climate dimensions. 

The new scheme will: 

• Ensure a smoother transition for countries that are moving up in their development status by allowing them to retain preferential EU market access if they meet sustainability standards. 
• Create more opportunities for low-income countries by lowering product graduation thresholds. 
• Promote stronger human rights and labour standards by adding new conventions to the list of required compliance. 
• Introduce the possibility to withdraw benefits for environmental and climate violations. 
• Improve monitoring, transparency, and civil society involvement, and introduce an urgent withdrawal procedure. 
• Make beneficiary countries responsible for readmitting their own nationals in case of illegal migration issues. 

The GSP Regulation is a flagship of EU trade and development policy. Through GSP, the EU unilaterally employs trade preferences to foster sustainable development and economic opportunities in beneficiary countries, maintaining its open approach towards vulnerable, developing economies. Moreover, the EU unilaterally opens its markets to developing and least developed countries, thus supporting poverty eradication, sustainable development, and the integration of these countries in the global economy. 

Source: EU Commission