Sri Lanka, Brussels and GSP+: Human Rights Are Still Part of the Trade Relationship

Sri Lanka’s parliamentary leadership returned this month from talks in Brussels. The relationship is broader than trade, but Europe’s own policy record makes clear that rule of law, civic space and international human-rights commitments remain part of the bargain.

24 October 2026 • Lanka Witness International Desk

Sri Lanka’s Parliament says Speaker Jagath Wickramaratne and Deputy Minister of Economic Development Nishantha Jayaweera represented the country at the 12th EU–Sri Lanka Inter-Parliamentary Meeting in Brussels from 13 to 15 October. The visit forms part of a relationship in which economics, governance and human rights are deliberately intertwined.

That linkage is not an invention of critics of Colombo. At the EU–Sri Lanka Working Group on Governance, Rule of Law and Human Rights in May 2025, the European Union explicitly recalled the need for relevant Sri Lankan legislation to comply with international human-rights and ILO conventions in order to ensure continued access to the European market through GSP+ preferences. Sri Lanka, for its part, confirmed its commitment to repeal the Prevention of Terrorism Act and discussed replacement legislation intended to comply with international standards.

The counterterrorism bill is therefore a foreign-policy issue too

The government has now tabled the Protection of the State from Terrorism Bill. Its constitutionality is being challenged in the Supreme Court, while Amnesty International and the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka have raised concerns about definitions, detention safeguards and judicial control. Those criticisms are assessments, not court findings. But they matter diplomatically because Sri Lanka itself has framed PTA replacement as part of its reform commitments.

The EU’s February 2026 Joint Commission with Sri Lanka again covered governance, reconciliation, human rights and trade. Separately, the European Parliament approved a renewed EU generalised-preferences framework in April 2026 with expanded human-rights and environmental convention requirements and monitoring.

Accountability remains on Europe’s agenda

The EU has also supported continued UN scrutiny of Sri Lanka. In its Human Rights Council statement in September 2025, it said significant progress on accountability and justice for victims remained lacking, particularly in cases involving people who were killed or remain missing. In October 2025 the EU supported renewal of the OHCHR accountability mandate.

None of this means that every disagreement over rights will trigger trade consequences. GSP+ operates through legal criteria, monitoring and EU processes, not newspaper headlines. Nor should diplomatic engagement be reduced to conditionality. The EU is simultaneously funding civil-society, humanitarian and development programmes in Sri Lanka.

But Colombo should not treat trade access and rights commitments as separate conversations. European institutions themselves do not.

Lanka Witness assessment: The strongest diplomatic strategy for Sri Lanka is not to argue that human rights are an internal matter whenever scrutiny becomes uncomfortable. It is to demonstrate, with laws, court practice and measurable outcomes, that reform promises made to international partners are being implemented at home.

Image: Diliff / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0.