Article 4 of Regulation (EU) No 978/2012 establishes criteria for the granting of tariff preferences under the general arrangement of the Generalised Scheme of Preferences (GSP).

In practice, this means that preferences are withdrawn from some countries, thereby increasing the value of the preferences for those who remain in the scheme, a process which could be called "preference consolidation".

to help with the task of enabling the UN peacebuilding architecture to live up to the expectations which accompanied its establishment, by taking forward the recommendations of the PBC review process, also with the aim of further improving the PBC's effectiveness; to support the emergence of a sound overall peacebuilding architecture on the basis of a partnership between developing and developed countries, whilst paying particular attention to improving delivery on the ground, enhancing relations with the IFIs – in order to create jobs and address economic issues - and fostering a more organic relationship between peacekeeping and peacebuilding; to promote a more structured relationship between the PBC, the EEAS's Managing Directorate for ...[+++] Global and Multilateral Issues, and particularly its Directorate on Conflict Prevention and Security Policy, and the UNGA, the UNSC and the Economic and Social Council with a view to generating greater synergy between peacekeeping and peacebuilding and development actions on the ground; to seek ways of strengthening the PBC's advisory role vis-à-vis the UNSC, to which it is accountable, of enhancing the PBC's cooperation with the Peacebuilding Support Office (PBSO) and of strengthening links with regional organisations and IFIs; further, to improve the existing partnership between the PBC and the EU Peace-building Partnership through a bottom-up approach to conflict resolution that takes the activities of non-state actors in peace-building into account,

(x) to help with the task of enabling the UN peacebuilding architecture to live up to the expectations which accompanied its establishment, by taking forward the recommendations of the PBC review process, also with the aim of further improving the PBC's effectiveness; to support the emergence of a sound overall peacebuilding architecture on the basis of a partnership between developing and developed countries, whilst paying particular attention to improving delivery on the ground, enhancing relations with the IFIs – in order to create jobs and address economic issues - and fostering a more organic relationship between peacekeeping and peacebuilding; to promote a more structured relationship between the PBC, the EEAS’s Managing Directorate ...[+++] for Global and Multilateral Issues, and particularly its Directorate on Conflict Prevention and Security Policy, and the UNGA, the UNSC and the Economic and Social Council with a view to generating greater synergy between peacekeeping and peacebuilding and development actions on the ground; to seek ways of strengthening the PBC's advisory role vis-à-vis the UNSC, to which it is accountable, of enhancing the PBC's cooperation with the Peacebuilding Support Office (PBSO) and of strengthening links with regional organisations and IFIs; further, to improve the existing partnership between the PBC and the EU Peace-building Partnership through a bottom-up approach to conflict resolution that takes the activities of non-state actors in peace-building into account,

Consequently, the new free trade agreement should implement and, when appropriate, consolidate all the preferences previously granted by the present scheme.

(16) For the sake of coherence of the Community commercial policy, a beneficiary country should not benefit from both the Community's scheme of generalised tariff preferences and a free trade agreement, if that agreement covers and effectively implements and, where appropriate, consolidates at least all the preferences granted by the present scheme for that country .