EU nations agree trade measures against Belarus

(BRUSSELS) - EU nations agreed Thursday to withdraw trading privileges from Belarus unless it takes action to redress violations of workers' rights there.

The move follows an investigation by the EU's executive arm, the European Commission, which concluded that the Belarussian government is impeding the right to establish trade union organisations freely.

The withdrawal from the generalised system of preferences (GSP) will enter into force in six months unless the 25 EU nations decide before then "that the reasons justifying it no longer prevail," according to the text.

The trade move is in addition to existing EU sanctions against Minsk. The bloc has banned Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko and 35 other Minsk officials from travelling to its 25 member states and has also frozen their assets.

Belarus, sometimes dubbed the last dictatorship in Europe, currently benefits from the GSP, which offers many countries reduced tariffs on its exports to EU nations.

The decision was taken by EU agriculture ministers who met late into the night on Wednesday.

Among its overall demands on Belarus, the EU is calling for democratic elections and respect for human rights, the right of the people of Belarus to independent information, respect for NGOs, the release of all political prisoners and an impartial judicial system.

The bloc is also calling for an end to arbitrary arrest and detention, ill-treatment of prisoners and the death penalty.

The EU's latest move follows overtures to Minsk last month when the Union sent a message to the regime extolling the virtues of democratisation for the former Soviet republic.

If Minsk "takes significant steps towards democratisation" then "Belarus would receive assistance comparable to that of its neighbours", the EU said in its charm offensive, without giving any figures.

EU representatives considered the same trade measure in September but failed to reach agreement then, amid opposition from neighbours Belarus and Lithuania.

EU Trade Commission spokesman Peter Power explained then that the impact of the trade measure would be limited as it would only apply to part of Belarussian imports to EU countries, amounting to 380 million euros (500 million dollars) out of the 3.3 billion total last year.

More than 170 countries benefit from the generalised system of preferences which the EU has only suspended once, in the case of Myanmar.

The EU is Minsk's second biggest trading partner, far behind Russia.