Death penalty remains hurdle to EU market access
Lack of progress on tax reforms and unrealistic budget remains a concern, says spokesperson.
ISLAMABAD:
The European Union cautioned Pakistan on Wednesday against lifting ‘de facto moratorium’ (a law ending mandatory death sentencing), saying such a move will greatly weaken Islamabad’s case to seek duty-free access to the markets of the 27-nation bloc.
“Any move away from de facto moratorium on the death penalty will be received badly in the EU parliament,” said Jean Lambert, Chairperson of the delegation for relations with the countries of South Asia.
Lambert was talking to a select group of journalists at the conclusion of a visit by an EU parliamentary delegation, meant to inspect the country’s preparation for upcoming elections, economic reforms, as well as progress on human rights issues.
During the three-day trip, the EU delegation met with top government leaders, including Prime Minister Raja Pervaiz Ashraf, and key opposition leaders.
Pakistan has been vying for the status of Generalised System for Preferences plus, known as GSP plus, which will allow select developing countries to export duty-free goods to members of the EU from 2014.
Lambert said the GSP plus was a human rights instrument as well as a trading instrument and carries certain obligations in terms of international agreements on rights.
She added that EU parliament’s members were of the view that the GSP plus concessions should not be utilised by countries that still have the death penalty.
Lambert clarified, however, that the GSP plus was still being debated in the parliament, and thus, there was no final agreement – the abolition of the death penalty is not yet a formal condition.
Since the PPP-led coalition government came into being, there has been a de facto moratorium on the death penalty as no convicted person has been executed since 2008.
“Continuing moratorium, and specially making some statement about the moratorium, would certainly be helpful in seeking GSP plus status,” said another member of the EU parliament.
Lambert explained that nobody was talking about bringing forth a bill on the abolition of the death penalty in the Pakistani parliament.
“The EU recognises that the government may find it difficult to move a bill in parliament but the ideal for the EU is that the abolition of the death penalty should be in the statute books,” she added.
Speaking about the upcoming general elections, Lambert said that during meetings with political leaders belonging to opposition parties, some concerns were raised by the country’s political leaders, including Imran Khan, who want to ensure that everybody who is entitled to vote is actually on the voter list.
She said the delegation also raised the issue of women not being able to cast their vote in some parts of the country.
Meanwhile, EU Ambassador to Islamabad Lars Wigemark said the EU election monitoring mission had made 83 recommendations after the 2008 general elections and progress has been made, but much remained to be done. The EU will give 10 million euros in assistance for voter education and training, he added.
On the issue of dwindling economic conditions, Lambert said that about two years ago the EU raised the issues of tax reforms, greater efforts in tax collection and a stronger and more realistic budget. On this count, she said, the EU was dissatisfied with the lack of progress.
Lambert added that the economic situation was the EU’s ‘real concern’, and that the delegation also had concerns regarding literacy figures which are going down.
Published in The Express Tribune, July 19th, 2012.
The European Union cautioned Pakistan on Wednesday against lifting ‘de facto moratorium’ (a law ending mandatory death sentencing), saying such a move will greatly weaken Islamabad’s case to seek duty-free access to the markets of the 27-nation bloc.
“Any move away from de facto moratorium on the death penalty will be received badly in the EU parliament,” said Jean Lambert, Chairperson of the delegation for relations with the countries of South Asia.
Lambert was talking to a select group of journalists at the conclusion of a visit by an EU parliamentary delegation, meant to inspect the country’s preparation for upcoming elections, economic reforms, as well as progress on human rights issues.
During the three-day trip, the EU delegation met with top government leaders, including Prime Minister Raja Pervaiz Ashraf, and key opposition leaders.
Pakistan has been vying for the status of Generalised System for Preferences plus, known as GSP plus, which will allow select developing countries to export duty-free goods to members of the EU from 2014.
Lambert said the GSP plus was a human rights instrument as well as a trading instrument and carries certain obligations in terms of international agreements on rights.
She added that EU parliament’s members were of the view that the GSP plus concessions should not be utilised by countries that still have the death penalty.
Lambert clarified, however, that the GSP plus was still being debated in the parliament, and thus, there was no final agreement – the abolition of the death penalty is not yet a formal condition.
Since the PPP-led coalition government came into being, there has been a de facto moratorium on the death penalty as no convicted person has been executed since 2008.
“Continuing moratorium, and specially making some statement about the moratorium, would certainly be helpful in seeking GSP plus status,” said another member of the EU parliament.
Lambert explained that nobody was talking about bringing forth a bill on the abolition of the death penalty in the Pakistani parliament.
“The EU recognises that the government may find it difficult to move a bill in parliament but the ideal for the EU is that the abolition of the death penalty should be in the statute books,” she added.
Speaking about the upcoming general elections, Lambert said that during meetings with political leaders belonging to opposition parties, some concerns were raised by the country’s political leaders, including Imran Khan, who want to ensure that everybody who is entitled to vote is actually on the voter list.
She said the delegation also raised the issue of women not being able to cast their vote in some parts of the country.
Meanwhile, EU Ambassador to Islamabad Lars Wigemark said the EU election monitoring mission had made 83 recommendations after the 2008 general elections and progress has been made, but much remained to be done. The EU will give 10 million euros in assistance for voter education and training, he added.
On the issue of dwindling economic conditions, Lambert said that about two years ago the EU raised the issues of tax reforms, greater efforts in tax collection and a stronger and more realistic budget. On this count, she said, the EU was dissatisfied with the lack of progress.
Lambert added that the economic situation was the EU’s ‘real concern’, and that the delegation also had concerns regarding literacy figures which are going down.
Published in The Express Tribune, July 19th, 2012.