The European Parliament’s negotiators on the Generalised Scheme of Preferences (GSP) decided not to resume negotiations with the Council (‘trilogues’) on Thursday 14 March (see EUROPE 13370/6). The proposal put forward by the Belgian Presidency of the EU Council and supported by the Member States is still not acceptable to the European Parliament.
“The European Parliament has always maintained that the GSP Regulation should be clearly focused on the fundamental objectives of poverty eradication and sustainable development. The demands of the Council and the Commission to introduce conditionality for readmission have effectively poisoned the negotiations from the outset”, said the rapporteur of the text, Heidi Hautala (Greens/EFA, Finnish).
Although the proposed compromise amended the provisions on readmission, it did not abolish them, and that is the problem for Parliament.
The MEPs now accept that it will be up to the next legislature to bring this matter to a close. “This will require a willingness to compromise on the part of all the institutions and a refocusing on the substance of this instrument”, said the rapporteur.
In the meantime, the system currently in force was extended in November 2023, and is valid until the end of 2027. (Original version in French by Léa Marchal)