Environment-led Conditionality in the EU’s and US’s Generalized System of Preferences

This chapter explains two of the main Generalized Systems of Preferences (GSP)—the US program and the EU’s GSP. It indicates the reasons behind conditionality and possible future impacts. It discusses the European Union’s Generalized System of Preferences, the objectives, the types of GSP offered and the various conditions to benefit from the scheme, focusing on environmental provisions. It then examines the US’s GSP and the reasons for the lack of environmental conditionality. It then offers a discussion about the similarities and differences between the two systems’ environmental conditions and an examination of what could be done better concerning the environmental conditionality in the GSP. The chapter then provides some insights on how the covid-19 pandemic may affect the GSP and globalization as we know it