BETA


Events

2022/06/06
   EP - Committee decision to enter into interinstitutional negotiations confirmed by plenary (Rule 71)
2022/05/18
   EP - Committee decision to enter into interinstitutional negotiations announced in plenary (Rule 71)
2022/05/17
   EP - Committee report tabled for plenary, 1st reading
Details

The Committee on International Trade adopted the report by Heidi HAUTALA (Greens/EFA, FI) on the proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on applying a generalised scheme of tariff preferences and repealing Regulation (EU) No 978/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council.

The committee responsible recommended that the European Parliament's position adopted at first reading under the ordinary legislative procedure should amend the proposal as follows:

Mandatory action plan

Members supported the proposal for a mandatory action plan to be presented when applying the GSP+ regime and believe that this should be the main reference instrument for achieving the effective application of international conventions (i.e. the main UN/ILO conventions on human rights and labour rights, as well as the conventions on climate, environment and good governance principles).

The ‘action plan’ is defined as a public forward-looking plan of action detailing priority-oriented list of measures to be taken which are considered necessary to effectively implement the relevant international conventions.

Members proposed to supplement the Plan of Action proposed by the Commission with further details, deadlines and a disclosure requirement. Furthermore, an advisory body consisting of stakeholders should be established to assist the Commission in assessing the Plans of Action and in the monitoring effort related to beneficiary country commitments.

Ratification of international conventions

In order to further contribute to sustainable development and poverty eradication under the GSP and EBA schemes, Members consider that it is essential to foster positive conditionality on international conventions by encouraging beneficiary countries of the standard GSP and EBA schemes to ratify the conventions.

The standard GSP arrangement should be granted to all those developing countries which share a common development need and are in a similar stage of economic development and which have committed to signing and ratifying the international conventions referred to in Annex VI. If these countries do not ratify the international conventions within five years of the application of the trade preferences, the scheme should be suspended.

In view of their economic vulnerability, EU assistance should provide targeted support to beneficiary countries to meet their commitments and obligations to ratify and implement international conventions under the GSP schemes.

Monitoring process

The report introduced more structure and detail into the monitoring process of GSP and EBA beneficiary countries. Continued and sustained progress towards ratification of the international conventions covered by the Regulation should be carefully monitored by the Commission.

Where compliance with the obligations set out in the Regulation seriously deteriorates, the Commission and the EEAS should intensify the dialogue with beneficiary countries. If the Commission considers that there is sufficient evidence that a beneficiary country is seriously and systematically violating the principles laid down in the international conventions, it should immediately initiate the temporary withdrawal procedure. Where violations are exceptionally serious, the Commission should activate the rapid reaction mechanism.

Regular dialogue

The Commission should maintain a regular dialogue with civil society representatives and stakeholders to discuss, monitor and evaluate the implementation of the Regulation, in particular with regard to binding commitments and action plans submitted in the context of GSP+ applications. Where appropriate, the Commission should adopt public procedures and deadlines for consultation with civil society and stakeholders.

In order to strengthen the dialogue between the EU institutions, the European Parliament should invite the Commission and, where appropriate, the Council, to appear before the competent committee to discuss in particular the list of issues describing the implementation and application of the Regulation and the need for temporary withdrawal of preferential arrangements.

Trade and sustainable development

Members consider that the GSP should be linked to EU development assistance to ensure coherence and improve the impact of the GSP on sustainable development.

In order to fully exploit GSP preferences, EU development assistance instruments should help beneficiaries to foster productive capacities, economic and export diversification, value-addition and inclusive sustainability, in order to help beneficiaries to mainstream the opportunities offered by GSP benefits into their national policies. Members believe that the GSP should provide additional incentives for trade in sustainable products.

The implementation of the GSP scheme should also be integrated into the current discussions on EU initiatives. The EU should engage with beneficiary countries to help them achieve and implement international social, environmental and human rights standards , while taking into account the level of development of the countries. Members drew attention to the fact that the GSP scheme has the potential to contribute positively to the employment and empowerment of women.

Withdrawal process

Withdrawal should be seen as the very last option . The report proposed to include an Enhanced Engagement process in the Regulation, with specific steps for avoiding a withdrawal scenario. It also proposed to bring additional clarity to the threshold for what constitutes a ‘serious and systematic violation’ of the international conventions consequently leading to launching an investigation for withdrawal.

Product Graduation

Product graduation should not apply to GSP+ and EBA beneficiary countries.

Members stated that the Commission should monitor, in cooperation with stakeholders and civil society, the development and export potential of beneficiary countries that could potentially reach the Upper Middle-Income Status . This monitoring should aim to improve the targeting of sensitive products under the product graduation mechanism, provide clear recommendations on actions to improve export diversification and ensure that tariff preferences under GSP are withdrawn from competitive products in order to provide further opportunities in the EU market for the exports of countries most in need.

Documents
2022/05/03
   EP - Vote in committee, 1st reading
2022/05/03
   EP - Committee decision to open interinstitutional negotiations with report adopted in committee
2022/03/08
   EP - Committee opinion
Documents
2022/03/01
   EP - Committee opinion
Documents
2022/02/08
   EP - Amendments tabled in committee
Documents
2022/02/07
   EP - Amendments tabled in committee
Documents
2022/01/20
   EP - Referral to associated committees announced in Parliament
2022/01/06
   EP - Committee draft report
Documents
2021/11/11
   EP - ARENA Maria (S&D) appointed as rapporteur in AFET
2021/10/04
   EP - Committee referral announced in Parliament, 1st reading
2021/09/23
   EC - Document attached to the procedure
2021/09/23
   EC - Document attached to the procedure
2021/09/23
   EC - Document attached to the procedure
2021/09/23
   EC - Legislative proposal published
Details

PURPOSE: to propose a new EU Generalised System of Preferences (GSP) to promote sustainable development in low-income countries.

PROPOSED ACT: Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council.

ROLE OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT: the European Parliament decides in accordance with the ordinary legislative procedure and on an equal footing with the Council.

BACKGROUND: the GSP is one of the EU's main trade instruments to help developing countries integrate into the global economy, reduce poverty and foster sustainable development by promoting fundamental human and labour rights, environmental protection and good governance.

The EU offers three GSP arrangements:

(1) Standard GSP for low and lower-middle-income countries which are granted a partial or full removal of customs duties on two-thirds of tariff lines;

(2) GSP+ , the special incentive arrangement for sustainable development and good governance which slashes tariffs to 0% for the same tariff lines as in the case of Standard GSP;

(3) EBA (Everything But Arms) for least developed countries which benefit from duty-free, quota-free access to the EU market for all products except arms and ammunition;

The current GSP framework is based on Regulation (EU) No 978/2012 of 25 October 2012. The current scheme applies until 31 December 2023. Unless a new regulation is adopted, the standard GSP and the GSP+ schemes shall cease to apply on 1 January 2024.

CONTENT: the proposal for a new GSP regulation aims to renew the GSP for a further ten years from 2024 to 2034.

While maintaining the current architecture of three schemes and the key features of the current regulation, namely poverty eradication and support for sustainable development and good governance, the proposed new regulation aims to improve the overall efficiency and effectiveness of the GSP to meet future challenges:

(1) facilitate access to the GSP+ arrangement to the growing number of LDCs that lose access to the EBA initiative : the proposal modifies the vulnerability (eligibility) criteria for GSP+ to allow countries that graduate from the LDC category to benefit from this arrangement;

(2) adjust product graduation thresholds to better focus preferences on less competitive products and countries: the Commission proposes to maintain product graduation only for the standard GSP, but to revise the product graduation thresholds. It also proposes to

maintain the current graduation method by section and decrease the product graduation thresholds by 10 percentage points;

(3) reflect the evolving priorities such as those underpinning the European Green Deal by extending negative conditionality also to environmental and good governance conventions: the proposal introduces the possibility of withdrawing GSP preferences in the event of serious and systematic violations of the principles enshrined in the climate change and environmental protection conventions;

(4) update the list of international conventions that must be respected by adding two additional human rights instruments, namely on the rights of persons with disabilities and on the rights of the child, two conventions on workers' rights, and a convention on governance relating to transnational organised crime;

(5) introduce a faster withdrawal procedure to provide for a specific instrument to address specific circumstances characterised by exceptionally grave violations and a need to react urgently. This also increases the effectiveness of the withdrawal by increasing pressure on beneficiaries to respond to identified concerns;

(6) enhance the monitoring and implementation of GSP+ commitments, for instance through increased transparency and participation of relevant stakeholders, including through the recently created Single Entry Point (SEP) mechanism for non-compliance related complaints.

Budgetary implications

The proposed Regulation does not incur costs charged to the EU budget. Its application does, however, entail loss of customs revenue. Based on the last available data (2019), these preferences represent under the proposed GSP Regulation a loss of revenue for the EU of EUR 2 977.6 million.

2021/09/22
   EP - ASIMAKOPOULOU Anna-Michelle (EPP) appointed as rapporteur in DEVE
2020/12/03
   EP - HAUTALA Heidi (Verts/ALE) appointed as rapporteur in INTA

Documents

  • Committee report tabled for plenary, 1st reading: A9-0147/2022
  • Committee opinion: PE700.592
  • Committee opinion: PE700.536
  • Amendments tabled in committee: PE704.904
  • Amendments tabled in committee: PE704.832
  • Committee draft report: PE703.100
  • Document attached to the procedure: EUR-Lex
  • Document attached to the procedure: SEC(2021)0330
  • Document attached to the procedure: EUR-Lex
  • Document attached to the procedure: SWD(2021)0266
  • Document attached to the procedure: EUR-Lex
  • Document attached to the procedure: SWD(2021)0267
  • Legislative proposal published: COM(2021)0579
  • Legislative proposal published: EUR-Lex
  • Document attached to the procedure: EUR-Lex SEC(2021)0330
  • Document attached to the procedure: EUR-Lex SWD(2021)0266
  • Document attached to the procedure: EUR-Lex SWD(2021)0267
  • Committee draft report: PE703.100
  • Amendments tabled in committee: PE704.832
  • Amendments tabled in committee: PE704.904
  • Committee opinion: PE700.536
  • Committee opinion: PE700.592
AmendmentsDossier
545 2021/0297(COD)
2021/12/15 AFET 115 amendments...
source: 703.029
2022/01/07 DEVE 96 amendments...
source: 702.950
2022/02/04 INTA 35 amendments...
source: 704.904
2022/02/07 INTA 299 amendments...
source: 704.832

History

(these mark the time of scraping, not the official date of the change)

forecasts
  • date: 2024-04-22T00:00:00 title: Indicative plenary sitting date
forecasts
  • date: 2024-04-22T00:00:00 title: Indicative plenary sitting date
forecasts
  • date: 2024-04-22T00:00:00 title: Indicative plenary sitting date
forecasts
  • date: 2024-04-22T00:00:00 title: Indicative plenary sitting date
forecasts
  • date: 2024-04-22T00:00:00 title: Indicative plenary sitting date
forecasts
  • date: 2024-04-22T00:00:00 title: Indicative plenary sitting date
forecasts
  • date: 2024-04-22T00:00:00 title: Indicative plenary sitting date
docs/4
date
2022-02-07T00:00:00
docs
title: PE704.868
type
Amendments tabled in committee
body
EP
docs/6
date
2022-02-08T00:00:00
docs
title: PE704.898
type
Amendments tabled in committee
body
EP
docs/10
date
2022-05-03T00:00:00
docs
title: PE731.724
type
Amendments tabled in committee
body
EP
procedure/Legislative priorities/0
Old
title
Joint Declaration 2022
url
https://oeil.secure.europarl.europa.eu/oeil/popups/thematicnote.do?id=41360&l=en
New
title
Joint Declaration 2021
url
https://oeil.secure.europarl.europa.eu/oeil/popups/thematicnote.do?id=2066000&l=en
procedure/Legislative priorities/1
Old
title
Joint Declaration 2021
url
https://oeil.secure.europarl.europa.eu/oeil/popups/thematicnote.do?id=2066000&l=en
New
title
Joint Declaration 2022
url
https://oeil.secure.europarl.europa.eu/oeil/popups/thematicnote.do?id=41360&l=en
procedure/Legislative priorities/2
title
Joint Declaration 2023-24
url
https://oeil.secure.europarl.europa.eu/oeil/popups/thematicnote.do?id=41380&l=en
procedure/title
Old
Generalized scheme of tariff preferences
New
Generalised scheme of tariff preferences
docs/3
date
2021-09-23T00:00:00
docs
summary
type
Legislative proposal
body
EC
events/0
date
2021-09-23T00:00:00
type
Legislative proposal published
body
EC
docs
summary
docs/3
date
2021-09-23T00:00:00
docs
summary
type
Legislative proposal
body
EC
events/0
date
2021-09-23T00:00:00
type
Legislative proposal published
body
EC
docs
summary
links
Research document
docs/11
date
2022-05-17T00:00:00
docs
url: https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/A-9-2022-0147_EN.html title: A9-0147/2022
type
Committee report tabled for plenary, 1st reading/single reading
body
EP
events/5/summary
  • The Committee on International Trade adopted the report by Heidi HAUTALA (Greens/EFA, FI) on the proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on applying a generalised scheme of tariff preferences and repealing Regulation (EU) No 978/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council.
  • The committee responsible recommended that the European Parliament's position adopted at first reading under the ordinary legislative procedure should amend the proposal as follows:
  • Mandatory action plan
  • Members supported the proposal for a mandatory action plan to be presented when applying the GSP+ regime and believe that this should be the main reference instrument for achieving the effective application of international conventions (i.e. the main UN/ILO conventions on human rights and labour rights, as well as the conventions on climate, environment and good governance principles).
  • The ‘action plan’ is defined as a public forward-looking plan of action detailing priority-oriented list of measures to be taken which are considered necessary to effectively implement the relevant international conventions.
  • Members proposed to supplement the Plan of Action proposed by the Commission with further details, deadlines and a disclosure requirement. Furthermore, an advisory body consisting of stakeholders should be established to assist the Commission in assessing the Plans of Action and in the monitoring effort related to beneficiary country commitments.
  • Ratification of international conventions
  • In order to further contribute to sustainable development and poverty eradication under the GSP and EBA schemes, Members consider that it is essential to foster positive conditionality on international conventions by encouraging beneficiary countries of the standard GSP and EBA schemes to ratify the conventions.
  • The standard GSP arrangement should be granted to all those developing countries which share a common development need and are in a similar stage of economic development and which have committed to signing and ratifying the international conventions referred to in Annex VI. If these countries do not ratify the international conventions within five years of the application of the trade preferences, the scheme should be suspended.
  • In view of their economic vulnerability, EU assistance should provide targeted support to beneficiary countries to meet their commitments and obligations to ratify and implement international conventions under the GSP schemes.
  • Monitoring process
  • The report introduced more structure and detail into the monitoring process of GSP and EBA beneficiary countries. Continued and sustained progress towards ratification of the international conventions covered by the Regulation should be carefully monitored by the Commission.
  • Where compliance with the obligations set out in the Regulation seriously deteriorates, the Commission and the EEAS should intensify the dialogue with beneficiary countries. If the Commission considers that there is sufficient evidence that a beneficiary country is seriously and systematically violating the principles laid down in the international conventions, it should immediately initiate the temporary withdrawal procedure. Where violations are exceptionally serious, the Commission should activate the rapid reaction mechanism.
  • Regular dialogue
  • The Commission should maintain a regular dialogue with civil society representatives and stakeholders to discuss, monitor and evaluate the implementation of the Regulation, in particular with regard to binding commitments and action plans submitted in the context of GSP+ applications. Where appropriate, the Commission should adopt public procedures and deadlines for consultation with civil society and stakeholders.
  • In order to strengthen the dialogue between the EU institutions, the European Parliament should invite the Commission and, where appropriate, the Council, to appear before the competent committee to discuss in particular the list of issues describing the implementation and application of the Regulation and the need for temporary withdrawal of preferential arrangements.
  • Trade and sustainable development
  • Members consider that the GSP should be linked to EU development assistance to ensure coherence and improve the impact of the GSP on sustainable development.
  • In order to fully exploit GSP preferences, EU development assistance instruments should help beneficiaries to foster productive capacities, economic and export diversification, value-addition and inclusive sustainability, in order to help beneficiaries to mainstream the opportunities offered by GSP benefits into their national policies. Members believe that the GSP should provide additional incentives for trade in sustainable products.
  • The implementation of the GSP scheme should also be integrated into the current discussions on EU initiatives. The EU should engage with beneficiary countries to help them achieve and implement international social, environmental and human rights standards , while taking into account the level of development of the countries. Members drew attention to the fact that the GSP scheme has the potential to contribute positively to the employment and empowerment of women.
  • Withdrawal process
  • Withdrawal should be seen as the very last option . The report proposed to include an Enhanced Engagement process in the Regulation, with specific steps for avoiding a withdrawal scenario. It also proposed to bring additional clarity to the threshold for what constitutes a ‘serious and systematic violation’ of the international conventions consequently leading to launching an investigation for withdrawal.
  • Product Graduation
  • Product graduation should not apply to GSP+ and EBA beneficiary countries.
  • Members stated that the Commission should monitor, in cooperation with stakeholders and civil society, the development and export potential of beneficiary countries that could potentially reach the Upper Middle-Income Status . This monitoring should aim to improve the targeting of sensitive products under the product graduation mechanism, provide clear recommendations on actions to improve export diversification and ensure that tariff preferences under GSP are withdrawn from competitive products in order to provide further opportunities in the EU market for the exports of countries most in need.
procedure/Legislative priorities/1
title
Joint Declaration 2022
url
https://oeil.secure.europarl.europa.eu/oeil/popups/thematicnote.do?id=41360&l=en
docs/11/docs/0/url
https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/A-9-2022-0147_EN.html
events/5/docs/0/url
https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/A-9-2022-0147_EN.html
docs/3
date
2021-09-23T00:00:00
docs
summary
type
Legislative proposal
body
EC
events/0
date
2021-09-23T00:00:00
type
Legislative proposal published
body
EC
docs
summary
docs/3
date
2021-09-23T00:00:00
docs
summary
type
Legislative proposal
body
EC
events/0
date
2021-09-23T00:00:00
type
Legislative proposal published
body
EC
docs
summary
events/6
date
2022-06-06T00:00:00
type
Committee decision to enter into interinstitutional negotiations confirmed by plenary (Rule 71)
body
EP
docs/3
date
2021-09-23T00:00:00
docs
summary
type
Legislative proposal
body
EC
docs/10
date
2022-05-03T00:00:00
docs
title: PE731.724
type
Amendments tabled in committee
body
EP
docs/11
date
2022-05-17T00:00:00
docs
title: A9-0147/2022
type
Committee report tabled for plenary, 1st reading/single reading
body
EP
events/0
date
2021-09-23T00:00:00
type
Legislative proposal published
body
EC
docs
summary
events/3
date
2022-05-03T00:00:00
type
Vote in committee, 1st reading
body
EP
events/4
date
2022-05-03T00:00:00
type
Committee decision to open interinstitutional negotiations with report adopted in committee
body
EP
events/5
date
2022-05-17T00:00:00
type
Committee report tabled for plenary, 1st reading
body
EP
docs
title: A9-0147/2022
events/6
date
2022-05-18T00:00:00
type
Committee decision to enter into interinstitutional negotiations announced in plenary (Rule 71)
body
EP
forecasts
  • date: 2022-04-25T00:00:00 title: Vote scheduled in committee
procedure/Other legal basis
Rules of Procedure EP 159
procedure/stage_reached
Old
Awaiting committee decision
New
Awaiting Parliament's position in 1st reading
forecasts
  • date: 2022-04-25T00:00:00 title: Vote scheduled in committee
forecasts
  • date: 2022-04-25T00:00:00 title: Vote scheduled in committee
forecasts/0/date
Old
2022-04-20T00:00:00
New
2022-04-25T00:00:00
docs/10/docs/0/url
https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/DEVE-AD-700592_EN.html
docs/10/date
Old
2022-03-06T00:00:00
New
2022-03-08T00:00:00
docs/10
date
2022-03-06T00:00:00
docs
title: PE700.592
committee
DEVE
type
Committee opinion
body
EP
docs/9/date
Old
2022-02-15T00:00:00
New
2022-03-01T00:00:00
docs/9/docs/0/url
https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/AFET-AD-700536_EN.html
docs/8/docs/0/url
https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/INTA-AM-704904_EN.html
docs/9
date
2022-02-15T00:00:00
docs
title: PE700.536
committee
AFET
type
Committee opinion
body
EP
docs/6/docs/0/url
https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/INTA-AM-704832_EN.html
docs/7
date
2022-02-08T00:00:00
docs
title: PE704.898
type
Amendments tabled in committee
body
EP
docs/8
date
2022-02-08T00:00:00
docs
title: PE704.904
type
Amendments tabled in committee
body
EP
docs/5
date
2022-02-03T00:00:00
docs
title: PE704.832
type
Amendments tabled in committee
body
EP
docs/5
date
2022-02-04T00:00:00
docs
title: PE704.868
type
Amendments tabled in committee
body
EP
docs/5/date
Old
2022-02-04T00:00:00
New
2022-02-07T00:00:00
docs/6
date
2022-02-03T00:00:00
docs
title: PE704.832
type
Amendments tabled in committee
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EP
docs/6
date
2022-02-04T00:00:00
docs
title: PE704.868
type
Amendments tabled in committee
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EP
docs/6/date
Old
2022-02-03T00:00:00
New
2022-02-07T00:00:00
docs/6
date
2022-02-04T00:00:00
docs
title: PE704.868
type
Amendments tabled in committee
body
EP
docs/5
date
2022-02-03T00:00:00
docs
title: PE704.832
type
Amendments tabled in committee
body
EP
procedure/title
Old
Generalized scheme of tariff preferences (GSP)
New
Generalized scheme of tariff preferences
forecasts/0/date
Old
2022-03-22T00:00:00
New
2022-04-20T00:00:00
events/1
date
2022-01-20T00:00:00
type
Referral to associated committees announced in Parliament
body
EP
procedure/legal_basis/0
Rules of Procedure EP 57
docs/4/docs/0/url
https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/INTA-PR-703100_EN.html
docs/4/date
Old
2022-01-03T00:00:00
New
2022-01-06T00:00:00
docs/4
date
2022-01-03T00:00:00
docs
title: PE703.100
type
Committee draft report
body
EP
docs/0/docs/0
url
https://eur-lex.europa.eu/smartapi/cgi/sga_doc?smartapi!celexplus!prod!DocNumber&lg=EN&type_doc=SECfinal&an_doc=2021&nu_doc=0330
title
EUR-Lex
procedure/Legislative priorities
  • title: Joint Declaration 2021 url: https://oeil.secure.europarl.europa.eu/oeil/popups/thematicnote.do?id=2066000&l=en
committees/0/shadows
  • name: MATO Gabriel group: Group of European People's Party abbr: EPP
  • name: GLUCKSMANN Raphaël group: Group of Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats abbr: S&D
  • name: CAÑAS Jordi group: Renew Europe group abbr: Renew
  • name: CAMPOMENOSI Marco group: Identity and Democracy abbr: ID
  • name: FRAGKOS Emmanouil group: European Conservatives and Reformists Group abbr: ECR
  • name: SCHOLZ Helmut group: The Left group in the European Parliament - GUE/NGL abbr: GUE/NGL
forecasts
  • date: 2022-03-22T00:00:00 title: Vote scheduled in committee
committees/1/rapporteur
  • name: ARENA Maria date: 2021-11-11T00:00:00 group: Group of Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats abbr: S&D
docs/1/docs/0
url
https://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=SWD:2021:0266:FIN:EN:PDF
title
EUR-Lex
docs/2/docs/0
url
https://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=SWD:2021:0267:FIN:EN:PDF
title
EUR-Lex
commission
  • body: EC dg: Trade commissioner: DOMBROVSKIS Valdis
docs/3/summary
  • PURPOSE: to propose a new EU Generalised System of Preferences (GSP) to promote sustainable development in low-income countries.
  • PROPOSED ACT: Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council.
  • ROLE OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT: the European Parliament decides in accordance with the ordinary legislative procedure and on an equal footing with the Council.
  • BACKGROUND: the GSP is one of the EU's main trade instruments to help developing countries integrate into the global economy, reduce poverty and foster sustainable development by promoting fundamental human and labour rights, environmental protection and good governance.
  • The EU offers three GSP arrangements:
  • (1) Standard GSP for low and lower-middle-income countries which are granted a partial or full removal of customs duties on two-thirds of tariff lines;
  • (2) GSP+ , the special incentive arrangement for sustainable development and good governance which slashes tariffs to 0% for the same tariff lines as in the case of Standard GSP;
  • (3) EBA (Everything But Arms) for least developed countries which benefit from duty-free, quota-free access to the EU market for all products except arms and ammunition;
  • The current GSP framework is based on Regulation (EU) No 978/2012 of 25 October 2012. The current scheme applies until 31 December 2023. Unless a new regulation is adopted, the standard GSP and the GSP+ schemes shall cease to apply on 1 January 2024.
  • CONTENT: the proposal for a new GSP regulation aims to renew the GSP for a further ten years from 2024 to 2034.
  • While maintaining the current architecture of three schemes and the key features of the current regulation, namely poverty eradication and support for sustainable development and good governance, the proposed new regulation aims to improve the overall efficiency and effectiveness of the GSP to meet future challenges:
  • (1) facilitate access to the GSP+ arrangement to the growing number of LDCs that lose access to the EBA initiative : the proposal modifies the vulnerability (eligibility) criteria for GSP+ to allow countries that graduate from the LDC category to benefit from this arrangement;
  • (2) adjust product graduation thresholds to better focus preferences on less competitive products and countries: the Commission proposes to maintain product graduation only for the standard GSP, but to revise the product graduation thresholds. It also proposes to
  • maintain the current graduation method by section and decrease the product graduation thresholds by 10 percentage points;
  • (3) reflect the evolving priorities such as those underpinning the European Green Deal by extending negative conditionality also to environmental and good governance conventions: the proposal introduces the possibility of withdrawing GSP preferences in the event of serious and systematic violations of the principles enshrined in the climate change and environmental protection conventions;
  • (4) update the list of international conventions that must be respected by adding two additional human rights instruments, namely on the rights of persons with disabilities and on the rights of the child, two conventions on workers' rights, and a convention on governance relating to transnational organised crime;
  • (5) introduce a faster withdrawal procedure to provide for a specific instrument to address specific circumstances characterised by exceptionally grave violations and a need to react urgently. This also increases the effectiveness of the withdrawal by increasing pressure on beneficiaries to respond to identified concerns;
  • (6) enhance the monitoring and implementation of GSP+ commitments, for instance through increased transparency and participation of relevant stakeholders, including through the recently created Single Entry Point (SEP) mechanism for non-compliance related complaints.
  • Budgetary implications
  • The proposed Regulation does not incur costs charged to the EU budget. Its application does, however, entail loss of customs revenue. Based on the last available data (2019), these preferences represent under the proposed GSP Regulation a loss of revenue for the EU of EUR 2 977.6 million.
events
  • date: 2021-10-04T00:00:00 type: Committee referral announced in Parliament, 1st reading body: EP
procedure/dossier_of_the_committee
  • INTA/9/07218
procedure/stage_reached
Old
Preparatory phase in Parliament
New
Awaiting committee decision
committees/0/rapporteur
  • name: HAUTALA Heidi date: 2020-12-03T00:00:00 group: Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance abbr: Verts/ALE
committees/2/rapporteur
  • name: ASIMAKOPOULOU Anna-Michelle date: 2021-09-22T00:00:00 group: Group of European People's Party abbr: EPP
docs/3/docs/0
url
https://eur-lex.europa.eu/smartapi/cgi/sga_doc?smartapi!celexplus!prod!DocNumber&lg=EN&type_doc=COMfinal&an_doc=2021&nu_doc=0579
title
EUR-Lex