Official relations between the EU and Sri Lanka date back to 1962.

The EU opened a Delegation Office in Colombo in 1995, which is also accredited to the Maldives. 

Today relations between the EU and Sri Lanka are governed by a comprehensive Cooperation Agreement on Partnership and Development which came into force in April 1995. An EU-Sri Lanka Re-admission Agreement has also been in force since May 2005 in order to combat illegal immigration more effectively.

The Cooperation Agreement aims to enhance and develop the various aspects of cooperation between the EU and Sri Lanka through dialogue and partnership. Cooperation is based on respect for democratic principles and human rights.

Economic and trade relations between the EU and Sri Lanka started in the late 1980s and have become an integral part of the EU’s development strategy.

The EU is Sri Lanka's second-largest trading partner after China and its second main export destination, absorbing 22.4% of Sri Lankan exports in 2020.

Sri Lanka's exports to the EU are dominated by textiles and clothing, accounting for 52.3% of Sri Lanka's total exports to the EU in 2020.

Since 2017, Sri Lanka benefits from enhanced market access to the EU under the Generalised System of Preferences Plus (GSP+). These one-way trade preferences consist of the full removal of duties on 66% of tariff lines on a variety of products, providing that the country’s commitment to ratify and implement several international conventions on human rights, labour conditions, environment and good governance.

EU support to economic and trade relations in its early stages focused mainly on technical assistance, but it gradually evolved to assist the Government’s efforts in regulatory reforms or to help local companies become more competitive in regional and EU markets.

In Sri Lanka, the EU and MS focus on the following areas:

• Democracy and the rule of law.
• Civil society, human rights defenders and media.
• Inclusive and peaceful society.
• Gender equality and women’s rights.
• Social and environmental rights in business.

The EU also monitors compliance with the 27 international conventions on human rights, labour conditions, environment and good governance in the context of the GSP+ process.

EU Action Plan on Human Rights

The Council of the EU has adopted on 19 November 2020 the EU third EU Action Plan on Human Rights and Democracy (2020-2024) which provides for a renewed political roadmap that sets the priorities for positioning the EU as a credible global actor seeking to defend EU values and interests.

The EU’s guidelines on human rights defenders is available here.

The EU has provided around one billion euro (approximately 233.5 billion rupees) of assistance in Sri Lanka so far, through a variety of bilateral, regional, and global programmes in different sectors.

Our financial support is based on the country’s policies and priorities as well as EU strategic interests and values.

Until 2013, EU development cooperation in Sri Lanka focused mainly on supporting post-war reconstruction and poverty reduction in the North and East through sustainable integrated district development.

In the 2014-2020 period, the main priorities of EU development cooperation in Sri Lanka was to support integrated rural development, democratic governance, and reconciliation.

Going forward, EU cooperation with Sri Lanka will focus on supporting a green economic recovery and continue assisting local efforts towards a more peaceful and inclusive society.

Diplomatic relations between the EU and the Maldives were established in 1983, with the Commission Head of Delegation in Colombo being accredited as non-resident Ambassador to the Maldives.

Since 2015, the Government of Maldives and the EU Heads of Missions have held an annual Policy Dialogue, co-chaired by the Minister of Foreign Affairs and the Ambassador of the European Union to the Maldives. 

The first Senior Officials Meeting between the EU and the Maldives took place in 2020 in Male.

The EU is one of the Maldives' largest export partners. Maldives exported EUR 220 million worth of products (primarily fisheries products) to the EU (2018 data) which represented more than 33% of its total exports.

The EU is one of the Maldives' largest import partners as well, accounting for EUR 81 million worth of trade (2018 data) which represented almost 10% of its total imports.

The tourism industry of the Maldives remains its biggest foreign income earner. Tourism statistics show that European tourists consistently make up nearly 50% of all arrivals, with over 500,000 European nationals visiting the country each year.

The Delegation's priorities for the Maldives include support to strengthen democracy and human rights, strengthen respect for civil and political rights, reinforce the rule of law, and promote the political representation and economic empowerment of women.

The Maldives renewed its commitment to consolidate democracy, ensure good governance, and promote respect for human rights during the fourth annual Policy Dialogue between the Maldives and the EU held in 2019. The holding of peaceful and democratic Presidential and Parliamentary Elections in 2018 and 2019 respectively were further welcome steps.

In light of these positive developments, the European Council decided to revoke the framework for restrictive measures against the Maldives that it adopted on 16 July 2018. The framework was adopted following a deterioration of the political and human rights situation in the Maldives in the first half of 2018.

Since 1981, the EU has been engaged with the Maldives, providing development assistance and prioritizing the archipelago’s unique set of development issues, with a special focus on its environmental imperatives.

EU support to Maldives over the past few decades focuses mainly on the areas of climate change, counter-terrorism and prevention of violent extremism, strengthening local governance, judicial reform, anti-corruption, capacity building of civil society, and empowerment of women. The Maldives has also benefited from assistance in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Since 2009, the EU has been supporting climate change adaptation and mitigation in the Maldives. A total of EUR 10.5 million has been allocated to support the Government of the Maldives in the development and implementation of its climate change strategy and action plan.

To continue and strengthen cooperation on climate change, in 2019 the EU allocated additional EUR 5 million to support the Government in implementing its Nationally Determined Contributions. The European Investment Bank (EIB) provided the Government with a EUR 45 million loan to assist projects in renewable energy.

In 2020, the EUR 3 million Prevention of Marine Litter in the Lakshadweep Seas (PROMISE) project was launched to promote source-to-sea solutions to reduce marine littering along the Maldivian, Sri Lankan and Indian Lakshadweep shorelines.

In light of the efforts underway in the Maldives to step up and coordinate the prevention of violent extremism and the countering of terrorism, the EU allocated EUR 2.5 million for the Maldives to strengthen its preparedness and response capabilities.

The Maldives also benefits from ongoing projects to support justice sector reform and anti-corruption efforts. EU-funded projects are also working to strengthen the capacity of the Parliament, and to strengthen institutional leaders in support of pluralistic media.

To support the Maldives’ Covid-19 response, the European Union announced EUR 3 million grant funding to the Maldives in 2020 to strengthen the health sector and tourism industry.  In addition, the European Investment Bank announced a EUR 20 million loan to the Maldives to help post-COVID19 economic recovery.