Pakistan remains the largest beneficiary of the European Union's Generalised Scheme of Preferences Plus (GSP+), saving an estimated €732 million in tariff costs in 2024 alone — even as it continues to fall short of the human rights obligations that are a formal condition of the scheme, according to reports. The development has drawn renewed scrutiny from EU officials and international rights groups.

What the GSP+ scheme requires

Under the GSP+ arrangement, Pakistan enjoys zero tariffs on roughly two-thirds of all product categories traded with the European Union. The preferential access, in place since 1 January 2014, is explicitly tied to the implementation of international conventions covering human rights, labour rights, environmental protection, climate change, and good governance. Critics argue that after more than twelve years, Pakistan has consistently failed to honour these obligations.

EU Ambassador's warning

EU Ambassador to Pakistan Raimundas Karoblis has warned that Pakistan's continued access to the scheme could be jeopardised if meaningful progress on human rights is not demonstrated. He identified blasphemy cases as a major concern for the EU, noting that Pakistan's blasphemy laws — which carry penalties including the death penalty and life imprisonment under the Pakistan Penal Code — are reportedly being used to intimidate Christians and other religious minorities. Rights activists argue that these communities live under constant fear of blasphemy accusations and violent threats.

Documented pattern of minority persecution

The ambassador's remarks come amid a documented and worsening pattern of abuses against Pakistan's religious minorities. A report titled 'Stolen Girls', presented at the European Parliament by the US-based advocacy group Jubilee Campaign, documented at least 210 cases of abduction, forced conversion, and child marriage involving Christian girls in Pakistan between 2019 and 2025. The Voice of Pakistan Minority (VOPM) said that more than 83 per cent of the victims are minors, with an average age of just 12.8 years, and that perpetrators are on average around 35 years old — resulting in age gaps often exceeding 20 or even 30 years.

The VOPM said the persistent failure of Pakistani state institutions — including the police, judiciary, and administrative authorities — to respond effectively has 'fostered an environment of near impunity for perpetrators.' The organisation noted that affected families are frequently left to navigate a system stacked against them, while victims are denied both protection and a meaningful voice.

Recent violence against minorities

Adding to the grave concern, a 21-year-old Christian woman was recently killed inside her home in Rawalpindi, reportedly by a Muslim neighbour whose romantic advances she had rejected. The victim, identified as Saba Mehboob, was shot dead by the alleged suspect, Adnan Butt, according to her brother Joshua Mehmood. After the killing, the suspect allegedly kidnapped her teenage stepbrother and pressured him to falsely confess to the murder, according to reports citing Christian Daily International-Morning Star News. In a separate development in August, a leading minority rights body expressed grave concern over a growing pattern of forced conversions and child marriages targeting minority girls across the country.

The critical question for the EU

Turkey-born journalist Uzay Bulut, writing in PJ Media, framed the central dilemma: 'How can the European Union justify granting aid and trade privileges to a regime that imprisons people for blasphemy and treats its non-Muslim communities as second-class citizens?' The EU has not yet announced formal proceedings to suspend or revoke Pakistan's GSP+ status. The next review of compliance is expected to be closely watched by rights advocates, who argue that continued inaction by Brussels would render the scheme's human rights conditionalities meaningless.