Thank you, Chairperson.

I have the honour to speak on behalf of the European Union and its Member States.

The Candidate Countries the Republic of North Macedonia*[1] Montenegro*, and Albania*, and the EFTA country Norway, member of the European Economic Area, align themselves with this statement.

1. The EU and its Member States are committed to the promotion, protection and respect of human rights and labour rights, including freedom of association, collective bargaining and we point out to the importance of a well-functioning labour inspectorate for the implementation of these rights. We support the indispensable role played by the ILO in developing, promoting and supervising the application of international labour standards and of fundamental Conventions in particular.
2. We thank the Office and give our full support for its constant engagement in promoting labour rights in Bangladesh.
3. As noted also in the most recent CEACR report, most of the issues concerning insufficient compliance in law and practice regarding the ILO conventions remain and need to be addressed without delay. This includes persisting serious labour rights matters related to severe gaps in the alignment of national law and practice with ILO conventions as being part of this Art. 26 complaint.
4. In line with GB.340 decision, we expect a time‑bound roadmap of actions with tangible outcomes to address all the outstanding issues, including, among other, amending the Bangladesh Labour Act, the Labour Rules and the EPZ labour law as required; effectively combating violence against workers; addressing low rate of trade union registration and reinforcing labour inspection capacity and enforcement.
5. The EU and its Member States and Bangladesh have established a close relationship fostering cooperation on labour standards since many years, including in the context of the enhanced engagement process under the Generalized Scheme of Preferences’ arrangement for Least Developed Countries ("Everything But Arms").
6. We would like to reaffirm our strong commitment to cooperate with the Government of Bangladesh, in partnership with the ILO. With respect to support for sustainable and resilient recovery from the COVID-19 crisis, we recall the efforts of Team Europe to help COVID-affected Bangladesh workers in export-oriented industries with 113 mio € of cash assistance.
7. We welcome the commitment of the Government of Bangladesh of October 2019 on developing jointly with the EU a Labour Rights Roadmap with clear timelines. We call on the Government to deliver on its commitment to present this comprehensive EU Roadmap of actions with clear timelines and tangible outcomes addressing all the outstanding issues without delay and to effectively implement it in law and in practice with support of the ILO. Strong deliverables are necessary for Bangladesh to continue to benefit from tariff-free exports to the EU. We believe this EU Roadmap and the one prepared following the GB.340 decision are mutually reinforcing the support for the fundamental importance of compliance with ILO Conventions. 
8. The EU has a zero-tolerance policy on child labour policy. We need urgent action by Bangladesh to ensure elimination of child labour and of forced labour.
9. Chair, in light of the considerations and concerns raised above we can support the decision point.

Thank you, Chair.

[1] *The Republic of North Macedonia, Montenegro, and Albania continue to be part of the Stabilisation and Association Process.