A new high-level monitoring mission of the European Commission and the European External Action Service visited Myanmar from 18 to 22 February 2019 to assess progress in the field of human rights and labour in the country.
The Commission had announced this mission in the context of a possible withdrawal of trade preferences from the Everything But Arms (EBA) regime granted by the EU (see EUROPE 12125).
To continue to benefit from this regime, Myanmar must respect the fundamental principles of the 15 fundamental conventions of the United Nations and the International Labour Organisation. A previous monitoring mission visited Myanmar in October 2018 following extremely worrying reports of human rights violations and labour rights concerns, the Commission noted in a statement issued on Monday 25 February.
The institution hopes to see sustained and concrete progress in all areas of concern in the near future. However, it confirmed that the EU would continue its dialogue with Myanmar.
The European Commission and the European External Action Service will now analyse the results of this mission.
As a least developed country, Myanmar benefits from the EBA initiative, which provides its exports with full duty-free and quota-free access to the European market, with the exception of arms. (Original version in French by Hermine Donceel)