European Commission voices conditions to return trade preferences to Belarus

EU trade preferences will be restored for Belarus on condition that the country meets two conventions of the International Labor Organization -- On the freedom of associations and the protection of the right for an organization and On applying the principles of the right for an organization and for holding collective negotiations", Lutz Guelner, a spokesman for EU trade commissioner said in a statement. He said that the European Commission had studied the conclusion of the International Labor Organization which says that the Belarusian government should continue with efforts to meet the recommendations. The European Commission calls on Belarus to boost efforts in the fields that the International Labor Organizaztion expressed concerns about.

Belapan  reminds that Belarus was excluded from the EU's General Preferences System in 2007 for violating the rights of trade unions.