Members of the Unified Customs Union. EEU - what is it? Eurasian Economic Union: countries

EURASEC

Eurasian Economic Community (2001-2014) - international economic organization of a number of former republics THE USSR. Was created for its promotion by participants in the process of forming the Customs Union and the Common Economic Space, as well as to deepen integration in the economic and humanitarian fields. Abolished in connection with the creation of the Eurasian Economic Union.

The organization was created in full accordance with UN principles and norms international law and has international legal personality.

Stages

· 2000 in Astana by heads of state ( Belarus, Kazakhstan, Russia, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan ) the Treaty establishing the Eurasian Economic Community was signed. The Treaty lays down the concept of trade and economic cooperation to achieve the goals defined by the Treaty on the Customs Union and the Common Economic Space.

· In 2003, the EurAsEC was granted the status Observer to the UN General Assembly.

· In 2008, a meeting of the interstate council of the EurAsEC countries was held in Moscow. At the meeting it was decided on the suspension of Uzbekistan’s membership in the EurAsEC at the request of the President of this country Islam Karimov.

· In 2009 supranational body began work Customs Union - Customs Union Commission, a package of documents forming the legal basis of the Customs Union was signed, the Action Plan for the formation of the Common Economic Space was approved, the concepts of food security of the EurAsEC and the creation of the Eurasian Innovation System were approved.

· After the formation of the Customs Union in 2010 At the EurAsEC summit, agreements were reached on the creation Eurasian Economic Union EAEU on the basis of the Common Economic Space of Belarus, Kazakhstan and Russia.

· In 2011, an agreement was signed on the creation free trade zones within the CIS.

· in 2013, Nazarbayev proposed dissolving the Eurasian Economic Community (EurAsEC), since with the creation of the Eurasian Economic Union of Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan, the EurAsEC as an organization that largely duplicates its functions will not be needed.

· 2014 heads of Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan signed documents in Minsk on the liquidation of the Eurasian Economic Community (EurAsEC) in connection with the start of the functioning of the Eurasian Economic Union on January 1, 2015

Customs Union The EAEU was formed in 2010 g, although the Agreement on its formation was concluded back in 2007. United customs territory created 2011 d. From that moment on, the Customs Union began to function fully.

Customs Union of the EAEU- a form of trade and economic integration Belarus, Kazakhstan, Russia, Armenia and Kyrgyzstan , providing single customs territory, within which customs duties and restrictions of an economic nature are not applied in mutual trade in goods, with the exception of special protective, anti-dumping and countervailing measures. At the same time, member countries of the Customs Union apply uniform customs tariffs and other regulatory measures when trading with third countries.


Eurasian Economic Commission- a permanent supranational regulatory body of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) (before its creation - the Customs Union (CU) and the Common Economic Space (SES)).

In 1995 The leaders of Kazakhstan, Russia, Belarus, and a little later of Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan, signed the first agreement on the creation of the Customs Union, which later transformed into the EurAsEC.

  • 2007 in Dushanbe signed by Belarus, Kazakhstan and Russia Agreement on the creation of a single customs territory and the formation of the Customs Union.
  • In 2009, a meeting between Medvedev, Lukashenko and Nazarbayev was held in Minsk on the creation of single customs space.
  • In 2010, the Common Customs Tariff of the three countries came into force.
  • The unified Customs Code came into force.
  • On April 1, 2011, transport controls were abolished on the border between Russia and Belarus. It was moved to the outer contour of the borders of the Customs Union.
  • On July 1, 2011, all customs control was also moved to the outer contour of the borders of the Customs Union. Border and migration controls were maintained at internal borders.

When the Customs Union was created, concerns were expressed that the Customs Union rules might conflict with WTO rules.

In October 2011, all norms of the Customs Union were brought in full compliance with WTO standards . In addition, it was decided that if any CU member state joins the WTO, the rules of this organization will take precedence over the rules of the CU. On August 22, 2012, Russia became a full member of the WTO. In this regard, the Common Customs Tariff (CCT) of the countries of the Customs Union was updated taking into account the obligations of the Russian Federation to the WTO.

EAEU- international organization for regional economic integration with international legal personality and established by the Treaty on the Eurasian Economic Union. The EAEU provides freedom of movement of goods, as well as services, capital and labor , and the implementation of coordinated, coordinated or unified policies in sectors of the economy.

The member states of the Eurasian Economic Union are Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan and the Russian Federation. The EAEU was created for the purpose of comprehensive modernization, cooperation and increasing the competitiveness of national economies and creating conditions for sustainable development in the interests of improving the living standards of the population of the Member States.

· After the agreements on the creation of the Customs Union within the EurAsEC came into force in 2010, an agreement was reached on the creation of the Eurasian Economic Union on the basis of the Common Economic Space of Belarus, Kazakhstan and Russia.

· 2011 The heads of the Eurasian Economic Community countries made a decision on the accession of Kyrgyzstan to the Customs Union Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan.

· Since 2012, on the territory of three member countries of the EurAsEC Customs Union, Single Economic Space ( EEA), formed to create conditions for the stable development of the economies of the participating states and improve the living standards of the population. The SES integration agreements began to operate in full in 2012.

· 2013 Armenia joins the Customs Union

In order to create a single economic space within the EAEU, it is proposed to create supranational structures:

  • Economic Commission;
  • Commission on Raw Materials (sets prices and quotas for raw materials and energy resources, coordinates policies in the field of production and sale of gold and other precious metals, etc.);
  • Fund for Economic, Scientific and Technical Cooperation, formed from contributions EAEU countries(finances promising knowledge-intensive economic and scientific-technical programs, provides assistance in solving a range of problems, including legal, tax, financial, environmental, etc.);
  • Commission on Interstate Financial-Industrial Groups and Joint Ventures;
  • International Investment Bank of the EAEU;
  • International Arbitration of the EAEU;
  • Commission for entering a monetary unit of account;
  • Ecology Commission.

Accession Agreement Vietnam in the EAEU – at the end of May this year

In the modern world, many countries unite into unions - political, economic, religious and others. One of the largest such unions was the Soviet Union. Now we see the emergence of the European, Eurasian, and also Customs unions.

The Customs Union was positioned as a form of trade and economic integration of a number of countries, which provides not only a common customs territory for mutually beneficial trade with the absence of duties, etc., but also a number of points regulating trade with third countries. This agreement was signed on October 6, 2007 in Dushanbe; at the time of its conclusion, the union included the Russian Federation, Kazakhstan and Belarus.

The first article of the contract on the movement of goods within this territory states the following:

  • There is no customs duty. And not only for goods own production, but also for cargo from third countries.
  • There are no economic restrictions other than compensatory and anti-dumping ones.
  • The countries of the Customs Union apply a single customs tariff.

Current countries and candidates

There are both permanent member countries of the Customs Union that were its founders or joined later, and those that have only expressed a desire to join.

Participants:

  • Armenia;
  • Kazakhstan;
  • Kyrgyzstan;
  • Russia;
  • Belarus.

Candidates for membership:

  • Tunisia;
  • Syria;
  • Tajikistan.

TS managers

There was a special CU commission, which was approved at the time of signing the agreement on the Customs Union. Its rules were the basis of the legal activities of the organization. The structure worked and remained within these legal frameworks until July 1, 2012, that is, until the creation of the EEC. The highest body of the union at that time was a group of representatives of the heads of state (Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin (Russian Federation), Nursultan Abishevich Nazarbayev (Republic of Kazakhstan) and (Republic of Belarus)).

The following prime ministers were represented at the level of heads of government:

  • Russia - Dmitry Anatolyevich Medvedev;
  • Kazakhstan - Karim Kazhimkanovich Masimov;
  • Belarus - Sergei Sergeevich Sidorsky.

Purpose of the Customs Union

The countries of the Customs Union, with the main goal of creating a single regulatory body, meant the formation of a common territory, which would include several states, and all duties on products would be abolished on their territory.

The second goal was to protect one’s own interests and markets, first of all, from harmful, poor-quality, and also competitive products, which makes it possible to smooth out all the shortcomings in the trade and economic sphere. This is very important, since protecting the interests of one’s own states, taking into account the opinions of the members of the union, is a priority for any country.

Benefits and prospects

First of all, the benefits are obvious for those enterprises that can easily purchase from neighboring countries. Most likely, these will only be large corporations and companies. As for the prospects for the future, contrary to some economists’ forecasts that the Customs Union will entail a decrease in the level of wages in the participating countries, at the official level, the Prime Minister of Kazakhstan announced an increase in salaries in the state in 2015.

That is why the world experience of such large economic entities cannot be attributed to this case. Countries that have joined the Customs Union can expect, if not rapid, but stable growth in economic ties.

Agreement

The final version of the Agreement on the Customs Code of the Customs Union was adopted only at the tenth meeting, 10.26.2009. This pact stipulated the creation special groups who will monitor the activities to bring the revised draft treaty into effect.

The countries of the Customs Union had until July 1, 2010 to make changes to their legislation to eliminate contradictions between this Code and the Constitution. Thus, another contact group was created to resolve problems arising from differences between national legal systems.

All the nuances related to the territories of the Customs Union were also finalized.

Territory of the Customs Union

The countries of the Customs Union have a common customs territory, which is determined by the borders of the states that have entered into an agreement and are members of the organization. The Customs Code, among other things, determines the expiration date of the commission, which was July 1, 2012. Thus, a more serious organization was created, which has much more powers and, accordingly, more people on its staff in order to fully control all processes. On January 1, 2012, the Eurasian Economic Commission (EAEC) officially began its work.

EAEU

The Eurasian Economic Union includes member countries of the Customs Union: the founders - Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan - and the recently joined states, Kyrgyzstan and Armenia.

The establishment of the EAEU implies more wide range relationships in the freedom of movement of labor, capital, services and goods. Also, a coordinated economic policy of all countries must be constantly pursued, a transition must be made to a single

The total budget of this union is formed exclusively in Russian rubles, thanks to the share contributions made by all member countries of the Customs Union. Their size is regulated by the Supreme Council, which consists of the heads of these states.

Russian has become the working language for the regulations of all documents, and the headquarters will be located in Moscow. The financial regulator of the EAEU is in Almaty, and the court is in the capital of Belarus, Minsk.

Bodies of the Union

The highest regulatory body is the Supreme Council, which includes the heads of participating states.

A judicial body was also created, which is responsible for the application of treaties within the Union.

The Eurasian Economic Commission (EEC) is a regulatory body that provides all the conditions for the development and functioning of the Union, as well as the development of new proposals in the economic sphere regarding the format of the EAEU. It consists of the Ministers of the Commission (deputy prime ministers of the Union member states) and the Chairman.

Main provisions of the Treaty on the EAEU

Of course, the EAEU, compared to the CU, has not only broader powers, but also a much more extensive and specific list of planned work. This document no longer has any general plans, and for each specific task the path for its implementation is determined and a special one is created working group, which will not only monitor the implementation, but also control its entire progress.

In the received agreement the countries of the single Customs Union, and now the EAEU, secured an agreement on coordinated work and the creation of common energy markets. The work on energy policy is quite large-scale and will be implemented in several stages until 2025.

The creation of a common market is regulated in the document medical products and medicines by January 1, 2016.

Great importance is attached to transport policy on the territory of the EAEU states, without which it will not be possible to create a single joint action plan. The development of a coordinated agro-industrial policy is envisaged, which includes the mandatory formation of veterinary and phytosanitary measures.

Coordinated provides the opportunity to translate all planned plans and agreements into reality. In such conditions, they are developed general principles interaction and is provided effective development countries

A special place is occupied by labor, which regulates not only the free movement of labor, but also the same working conditions. Citizens who go to work in the EAEU countries will no longer need to fill out migration cards (if their stay does not exceed 30 days). The same simplified system will apply when medical care. The issue of exporting pensions and offset length of service, which has been accumulated in a member country of the Union.

Expert opinions

The list of countries of the Customs Union may be replenished with several more states in the near future, but, according to experts, in order for full growth and influence on Western similar type unions to be noticeable, a lot of work and expansion of the organization is necessary. In any case, the ruble will not be able to become an alternative to the euro or dollar for a long time, and the impact of recent sanctions has clearly shown how Western policy can work to serve its own interests, and that neither Russia itself nor the entire Union can actually do anything about it . As for Kazakhstan and Belarus specifically, the conflict in Ukraine showed that they will not give up their benefits to please Russia. The tenge, by the way, also fell sharply due to the fall of the ruble. And on many issues, Russia remains the main competitor of Kazakhstan and Belarus. However, on this moment the creation of the Union is adequate and the only the right decision, capable of helping to somehow strengthen relations between states in the event of further Western pressure on Russia.

It is now known which countries in the Customs Union are more interested in its creation. Despite the fact that even at the stage of its inception it was constantly plagued by all sorts of problems, the joint coordinated actions of all members of the Union make it possible to solve them as quickly as possible, which makes it possible to look into the future with optimism and hope for the rapid development of the economies of all states participating in this treaty.

In 1995, the countries of the Customs Union were defined, united by economic and trade relations. Today these are Kazakhstan, Belarus and Russia, with Kyrgyzstan and Armenia joining them. The countries of the Customs Union have formed a single territory with the abolition of all duties on products sold within these borders. The customs tariff is the same for everyone and the same requirements have been created regarding the regulation of trade relations with other countries.

Before 2012 and after

Uniform standards were introduced, which the countries of the Customs Union pledged to implement, thus protecting their own markets from low-quality imported products, as well as smoothing out the roughness of the trade and economic spheres within the Union. The same 2007 agreement provided for the creation of a commission, which became a regulatory body covering all countries of the Customs Union. Her term of work ended in July 2012, and she was replaced by an even more powerful organization - the EEC, which began its activities six months before the end of the Customs Commission. The Eurasian Economic Commission has an order of magnitude more powers; its staff includes ten times more people.

The Customs Commission formed regulations and legal documents that were necessarily reviewed and signed by all participants, that is, three people - the chairman and two members of the commission. It should be noted that such a commonwealth plan as the Eurasian countries of the Customs Union with Russia is far from the first experience in the history of mankind. In the nineteenth century, the German Customs Union was created, later the EU Customs Union, the South African Customs Union and so on. This is nothing more than an interstate agreement of more than two countries on the abolition of customs trade duties, one of the forms of collective protectionism.

How does this happen

Every time a customs union is created, the participating countries negotiate the creation of intergovernmental bodies that will coordinate and harmonize foreign trade policies. Meetings are periodically held at the ministerial level of relevant departments, which rely on the permanent interstate secretariat for their work. The Customs Union, whose member countries have interstate integration, also creates supranational bodies. This is a more advanced form of integration than, for example, simple free trade zones. The EEC is a permanent regulatory supranational body of the EAEU, which was previously the less advanced Customs Union and the Common Economic Space (SES).

Such modern form a single trade and economic union was created in 2011 by the decision of three presidents - the Republic of Belarus, the Republic of Kazakhstan and the Russian Federation - and sealed by an agreement dated November 18 of this year. By status, this organization is a supranational governing body, and is subordinate to the SEEC (Supreme Eurasian Economic Council), and the decisions of the commission in mandatory are fulfilled by all countries participating in the Customs Union, the EAEU and the Common Economic Space. The main task for the EEC is to provide all conditions for the development and functioning of these three formations, as well as to improve the sphere of integration within the boundaries of these associations.

Authority

All powers of the Customs Union Commission were transferred to the Eurasian Economic Commission. In addition to this, there were additional functions, there are quite a lot of them. The areas of authority are very wide; the commission deals with customs tariff and non-tariff regulation, customs administration, and technical regulation. Compliance with sanitary, phytosanitary and veterinary standards is globally important, and here too the EEC area of ​​action is in place. Member countries of the Customs Union benefit from import customs duties, which have been credited and distributed by the commission. It also establishes trade regimes in relation to foreign countries. The commission is charged with maintaining statistics on mutual and foreign trade, build macroeconomic and competition policies, distribute agricultural and industrial subsidies.

Energy policy is under the authority of the Customs Union Commission; under its leadership, natural monopolies are created and municipal and state purchases are made. Each function of the EEC has the goal of flourishing mutual trade in investments and services; it controls monetary policy. Also under her authority are transportation and transport, protection of the results of individualization of services, works, goods, intellectual activity. The EEC is engaged in labor migration, financial markets- banking, insurance, markets valuable papers and foreign exchange. And also in her areas of interest there are many other things that are quite difficult to list without rewriting multi-page documents. From the main thing: it is the commission that implements international treaties and forms the legal framework of the Customs Union and the EEC. The countries of the single Customs Union, being parties to this association, make shared contributions approved by the heads of state of the parties.

History and prospects

So, in 1995, the leaders of Russia, Kazakhstan and Belarus signed agreements on the creation of the Customs Union. Later they were joined by Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. In 2000, the Eurasian Economic Union was created on the basis of this organization. In 2007, the Customs Union Commission was created as a single operating, permanent regulatory body. This path turned out to be quite difficult for Tajikistan, and this needs to be discussed separately. Below there will be a chapter dedicated to Tajikistan and its path to the Customs Union, which this country has not yet mastered. Perhaps in 2017 he will become its sixth member.

In 2010, the Customs Code was introduced, and in 2011, the Declaration on Economic Integration and its second step - the Common Economic Space (SES) was adopted, which came into force only in 2012 in the form of seventeen interstate agreements, which laid the legal basis this organization. Then the turn came to form the Eurasian Economic Commission, which replaced the CU Commission. In January 2015, a comprehensive agreement on the Eurasian Economic Union was signed, which became the third step towards creating an advanced customs system on the territory of the above states. In 2016, five countries signed this treaty. Which countries are included in the new type of Customs Union? Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia.

Structure

In 2012, the commission’s staff numbered six hundred, six months later - eight hundred and fifty, and in 2013 - more than a thousand. All of them are international employees. The EEC operates at two levels - the EEC Board and the EEC Council. The latter manages the activities of the commission, it has five representatives: from each participating country - the deputy prime minister of the national government. Meetings are held monthly. The council includes from Russia - I. I. Shuvalov, from Kyrgyzstan - O. M. Pankratov, from Kazakhstan - A. U. Mamin, from Belarus - V. S. Matyushevsky, from Armenia - V. V. Gabrielyan. The chairpersons take turns in alphabetical order. Decisions are made by consensus.

The executive body of the commission is the EEC Board, which carries out further integration within the borders of the CU and the SES. There are ten members, two people from each country, one of them chairs. Countries included in the Customs Union appoint members and the chairman of the Board for a period of four years, and extension of powers is also provided (at the level of heads of state). Meetings are held weekly.

CU and Tajikistan

With the creation of the CU, it became possible to unite in a certain format (supranational organization) part of the space of the deceased Soviet Union. In essence, the Customs Union is the result of the will of the leaders of the three countries, which is aimed at removing barriers, integration, freedom of movement of services, goods, all types of capital, including human capital, across the transparent borders of the participating countries. Logically, the union needs to be expanded, perhaps not to sixteen members, but as many as possible. Nose economic point From a perspective, this step is very risky. Regarding Tajikistan’s accession to the Customs Union, the debate has not subsided for many years; it is still topical. It must be said that, just like Kyrgyzstan, the Tajiks signaled their desire to join in a very contradictory manner.

Firstly, it is one of the poorest countries Central Asia. There is no access to the sea, there are mountains all around, where it lasted for five years Civil War since 1992. The entire infrastructure was damaged, especially the economic one. Now the economy of this country is based on cotton production, light and textile industries. Recently, mining has begun - aluminum, coal, antimony, silver and gold. Also, power plants built during the Soviet Union are still operating in the republic. But overall the situation in the country still remains deplorable. Almost the entire working population has left Tajikistan, mostly to Russia, from where they send remittances to families. Of course, this country would have been accepted into the Customs Union anyway, but before Kyrgyzstan joined the Customs Union, Tajikistan did not have common borders with the Customs Union.

Territory

The single territory of the Customs Union - the countries that are its members and all their expanses. These are the terms of the agreements that are signed by the leaders of the Customs Union: the borders of individual territories within any country participating in the Customs Union are the borders of the Customs Union. Within these states, customs borders have been eliminated, customs barriers have been removed, customs duties are not applied, and mutual trade flourishes without any administrative restrictions.

Services, goods, capital and labor flow freely throughout the territory, the domestic legislation of each participating country is unified with the creation of supranational regulation in the field of law. All this contributes to the growth and stability of all participating national economies.

Tasks

Only the main tasks performed by the countries of the Customs Union are presented here. List:

1. Create a single customs territory within the borders of the participating countries.

2. Introduce a regime of absence of non-tariff and tariff restrictions in trade, except for those cases specified in special regulations.

3. Completely abolish customs controls in participating countries at their internal borders.

5. Use similar mechanisms in regulating trade and the economy, which are based on market universal economic principles and economic legislation harmonized for this purpose.

6. To establish the work of unified bodies governing the Customs Union.

Trade relations with countries outside the CU along the entire external border exist according to different rules. There, common customs tariffs are applied, common non-tariff regulation measures are used, a common customs policy is pursued, and common customs regimes are applied.

Positive sides

Compared to the functions of a free trade zone, the CU has many advantages provided to all business entities in the participating countries. First of all, the costs of creating, processing, moving, and transporting goods across the territories of the CU countries are reduced.

In addition, financial and time costs are reduced due to the absence of administrative restrictions. The number of customs procedures is reduced, while goods from other countries not participating in the Customs Union must overcome many customs barriers. With the help of the vehicle, new sales markets are more easily opened. Customs legislation is being simplified and unified.

Prospects

Countries such as Tunisia, Syria and Turkey intended to join the Eurasian Economic Union. So far, nothing is known about the specifics of actions regarding the implementation of these desires, however, it may happen that with the entry into the number of countries of a single customs space with Russia, political tension in these states will stabilize. In any case, a lot suggests that these intentions are being discussed and weighed in these countries. Another country that is now a potential candidate for joining the CU is Uzbekistan.

With the death of President Karimov, who clearly did not want to integrate into any of the regional organizations, politics in the state changed. Uzbekistan is experiencing the most difficult economic situation, without much hope for improvement. The TS would be extremely beneficial for him. It is worth remembering that the largest number of migrants in Russia come from Uzbekistan and Tajikistan. There are also many from Kyrgyzstan, but they have a much more stable legal position, since this country is a member of the Customs Union. The customs union is still one of the steps to strengthen ties between states former USSR. Through economic ties, through economic and technological chains - to the restoration of renewed connections and new political realities.

TASS DOSSIER. The Eurasian Economic Union is an international integration economic association whose members are Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Armenia and Kyrgyzstan.

The union began work on January 1, 2015; replaced the Eurasian Economic Community (EurAsEC, operated in 2000-2014).

Creation of the EAEU

The EAEU was formed on the basis of the Customs Union and the Common Economic Space of Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan (until 2015 they operated within the framework of the EurAsEC). The creation of the Eurasian Economic Union was first announced by the Presidents of the Russian Federation Dmitry Medvedev, Belarus Alexander Lukashenko and Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev in the Declaration on Eurasian Economic Integration, signed on November 18, 2011 at a meeting in Moscow.

On May 29, 2014, in Astana, the heads of Russia, Kazakhstan and Belarus Vladimir Putin, Nursultan Nazarbayev and Alexander Lukashenko signed the Treaty on the Eurasian Economic Union (ratified by Russia on October 3, Kazakhstan and Belarus on October 9, 2014).

In 2011, Kyrgyzstan announced its intention to join the EAEU, and in 2013, Armenia. The agreement on Armenia's accession to the union was signed on October 10, 2014 in Minsk (in fact, the republic became a member of the EAEU on January 1, 2015). On December 23 of the same year in Moscow, Kyrgyzstan concluded a similar agreement. On May 8, 2015, in Moscow, members of the organization signed documents on Kyrgyzstan’s accession to the Treaty on the EAEU. On May 20, the agreement was ratified by the parliament of the republic, and signed by the president on May 21. By August 6, 2015, ratification procedures for Kyrgyzstan’s accession to the EAEU were completed; On August 12, 2015, the Treaty on Kyrgyzstan’s accession to the EAEU entered into force.

Organizational goals

According to the document, the goals of the EAEU are the economic development of the participating countries, modernization and increasing the competitiveness of these states in the world market. When signing the agreement, the parties pledged to coordinate economic policies and guarantee the free movement of goods, services, capital and labor, to implement coordinated policies in key sectors of the economy (energy, industry, Agriculture, transport).

Structure and governing bodies

The highest body of the EAEU is the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council, which includes the presidents of the union member states. Its meetings are held at least once a year. The first since the start of the EAEU took place on May 8, 2015 in the Kremlin.

The heads of government of the participating states are members of the Eurasian Intergovernmental Economic Council. He ensures the implementation and control over the execution of decisions of the Supreme Council at the presidential level, gives instructions to the Eurasian Economic Commission, and also exercises other powers. Meetings are held at least twice a year. The first took place on February 6, 2015 in Gorki, at the residence of the head of the Russian government near Moscow.

The permanent regulatory body of the union is the Eurasian Economic Commission. Among its tasks: ensuring conditions for the functioning and development of the union, as well as developing proposals on economic issues of cooperation.

In 2015, the presidency of the EAEU was held by Belarus. On February 1, 2016, the chairmanship passed to Kazakhstan.

Statistics

Currently, the EAEU (including Kyrgyzstan) occupies an area of ​​more than 20 million square meters. km with a population of 182.7 million people (as of January 1, 2016). According to the Eurasian Economic Commission, the total gross domestic product of the EAEU member countries in January-September 2015 amounted to 1.1 trillion US dollars, decreasing by 3% compared to the same period in 2014. The volume of industrial production in 2015 decreased by 3.4% ($907.1 billion). At the end of 2015, the volume of mutual trade of the EAEU member states amounted to $45.4 billion, which is 25.8% less than in 2014. The volume of foreign trade in 2015 compared to 2014 decreased by 33.6% - up to 579.5 billion dollars, including exports of goods - 374.1 billion dollars, imports - 205.4 billion. According to the official website of the organization, the EAEU countries produce 607.5 million tons of oil per year (or 14.6% of the world share), as well as 682.6 billion cubic meters. m of gas (18.4%).

On May 22, 2015, during the VIII Astana Economic Forum, an agreement was signed on the creation of the EAEU Business Council, the founders of which were the National Chamber of Entrepreneurs of Kazakhstan "Atameken", the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs, the Confederation of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs (employers) of Belarus, the Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs (employers) of Armenia, Kyrgyz Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs. The work of the Council will make it possible to establish a dialogue between the business circles of the EAEU member countries, as well as ensure their coordinated interaction with the Eurasian Economic Commission (EEC) and the leadership of states.

Creation of free trade zones

On May 29, 2015, in Kazakhstan, after a meeting of the Eurasian Intergovernmental Economic Council, an agreement on a free trade zone (FTA) between the EAEU and Vietnam was signed, which became the first international document on an FTA between the EAEU and a third party. The agreement provides, in particular, the conditions for tariff liberalization of trade in goods between the states of the Union and Vietnam by reducing or zeroing the rates of import customs duties on a significant group of goods. The document will come into force 60 days after it is ratified in all EAEU countries and Vietnam in accordance with national legislation.

October 16, 2015 in the Kazakh village. Burabay, at a meeting of the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council, it was decided to begin negotiations on the creation of a free trade zone with Israel. In addition, negotiations are currently underway at the working group level on the possibility of concluding similar agreements with Iran, India and Egypt. Jordan and Thailand took the initiative to begin negotiations on the creation of an FTA with the EAEU.

In 2016, the countries of the Union plan to agree and sign with China a road map for connecting the projects of the EAEU and the Silk Road Economic Belt. The preparation of documents on this issue is currently being completed.

Cooperation with integration associations

On December 3, 2015, Russian President Vladimir Putin, addressing his annual message to the Federal Assembly, spoke in favor of exploring the issue of creating a large-scale economic partnership between the countries of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU), the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) and the Association of States South-East Asia(ASEAN).

Meetings of governing bodies

Since the start of the EAEU, three meetings of the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council (SEEC) have taken place.

The first one has passed May 8, 2015 in the Kremlin. At the end of it, the presidents of Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Armenia signed a protocol on amendments to the legal documents of the EAEU in connection with the accession of Kyrgyzstan to the organization. Agreements were also signed on free trade between the EAEU and Vietnam, on the start of negotiations with China on concluding an agreement on trade and economic cooperation, etc. Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping, following the results of bilateral negotiations on the sidelines of the summit, adopted a joint statement on the integration of The EAEU with the Chinese project “Silk Road Economic Belt”.

October 16, 2015 at a council meeting in the Kazakh village. For the first time, the President of Kyrgyzstan Almazbek Atambayev participated in Burabay as a full member. Following the summit, the leaders of the EAEU countries decided to begin negotiations with Israel on the creation of a free trade zone. In addition, the procedure for admitting new members to the organization, some aspects of Kazakhstan’s accession to the WTO, cooperation with China, etc. were considered. The main directions of the international activities of the union for 2015-2016 were approved.

December 21, 2015 in Moscow, at a meeting of the Eurasian Economic Union, a decision was made to transfer the chairmanship of the organization to Kazakhstan, the personal composition of the board of the Eurasian Economic Commission was determined in connection with the end of the term of office of the ministers of the commission (appointed every four years), a decision was made to conduct population censuses in the countries of the union in 2020 ., as well as the beginning of the development of “road maps” for cooperation with China. The parties discussed the entry into force of the free trade agreement between Ukraine and the EU on January 1, 2016 and the risks that may arise in this regard for the economies of the union countries. In particular, the leaders of the EAEU countries agreed to exchange information about all goods entering the union states and to create a unified database.

  • Meetings of the Eurasian Intergovernmental Economic Council

The first meeting of the Eurasian Intergovernmental Economic Council took place February 6, 2015 in Gorki, in the residence of the head of the Russian government near Moscow. The meeting of the prime ministers of the four EAEU member states was held with the participation of the head of government of Kyrgyzstan. Issues of development of integration, functioning of the EAEU, development legal framework, as well as the upcoming entry into the union of Kyrgyzstan. Following the meeting, the heads of government ordered to develop a concept for the creation of a Eurasian engineering center for machine tool manufacturing, to provide funding for a pilot project to introduce uniform labeling of goods on the territory of the EAEU states, etc.

May 29, 2015 in the village A meeting of the Eurasian Intergovernmental Council was held in Burabay, Akmola region of Kazakhstan. Upon its completion, the EAEU and Vietnam entered into a Free Trade Agreement. The document was signed by the prime ministers of the countries of the Union and Vietnam. The agreement established the mutual obligations of the participants to simplify access of goods to the markets of the countries participating in this agreement. Customs duties will be reduced on 88% of mutual trade goods, of which 59% rates will be reduced immediately, and not yet 29% - gradually over 5-10 years. In a separate annex to the Agreement, Russia and Vietnam agreed to simplify market access in the services sector; later, if desired, other EAEU countries can join this annex.

September 8, 2015 In Grodno (Belarus), following the results of the regular meeting of the Eurasian Intergovernmental Council, a number of documents were signed, including the decision “On the Main Directions of Industrial Cooperation within the Framework of the Eurasian Economic Union” and the Agreement on Coordination of Actions of the EAEU States to Protect Rights to Intellectual Property.

April 13, 2016 A regular meeting of the Eurasian Intergovernmental Council was held in Gorki near Moscow. The main strategic issues related to the development of cooperation of the EAEU with the European Union and China, as well as the industrial policy of the Union and the activities of the EEC were discussed.

The Customs Union is an agreement adopted by the participants of the Eurasian Economic Union, the purpose of which is abolition of customs duties in trade relations. Based on these agreements, common ways of carrying out economic activities and a platform for quality assessments and certification are created.

Thanks to this it is achieved abolition of customs controls on the borders within the Union, are concluded general provisions regulation of economic activity for the external borders of the Customs Union. In view of this, a common customs space is being created, using a generally accepted approach to border control. Another distinctive feature is the equality of rights of citizens of the customs area during employment.

In 2018, the Customs Union consists of next members of the EAEU:

  • Republic of Armenia (since 2015);
  • Republic of Belarus (since 2010);
  • Republic of Kazakhstan (since 2010);
  • Kyrgyz Republic (since 2015);
  • Russian Federation (since 2010).

The desire to become a party to this agreement was voiced by Syria and Tunisia. In addition, we know about the proposal to include Turkey in the CU agreement. However, to date, no specific procedures have been adopted for these states to join the Union.

It is clearly visible that the functioning of the Customs Union serves good help to strengthen economic relations between countries located on the territory of former Soviet countries. We can also say that the approach established in the agreement by the participating countries speaks of restoring lost connections in modern conditions.

Customs duties are distributed through a single sharing mechanism.

Given this information, it can be stated that the Customs Union, as we know it today, serves serious tool for the economic unification of countries that are members of the EAEU.

To understand what the activities of the Customs Union are, it will not be amiss to gain an understanding of how it was formed to its current state.

The emergence of the Customs Union was initially presented as one of the steps in the integration of the CIS countries. This was evidenced in the agreement on the creation of an economic union, signed on September 24, 1993.

Step by step moving towards this goal, in 1995, two states (Russia and Belarus) entered into an agreement between themselves on the approval of the Customs Union. Later, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan also entered this group.

More than 10 years later, in 2007, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Russia signed a pact to unite their territories into a single customs region and approve the Customs Union.

In order to specify the previously concluded agreements, from 2009 to 2010, more than 40 additional agreements were concluded. Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan have decided that, starting in 2012, a Common Market thanks to the unification of countries into a single economic space.

On July 1, 2010, another important agreement was concluded, which put into motion the work of the Customs Code.

On July 1, 2011, the current customs controls at the borders between countries were canceled and general rules were established at the borders with states that are not in the agreement. Until 2013, uniform legislative norms for the parties to the agreement will be formed.

2014 – The Republic of Armenia joins the Customs Union. 2015 – The Republic of Kyrgyzstan joins the Customs Union.

On January 1, 2018, a new unified Customs Code of the EAEU. It was created to automate and simplify a number of customs processes.

Territory and management

The unification of the borders of the Russian Federation, the Republic of Belarus and the Republic of Kazakhstan became the basis for the emergence of the Common Customs Space. This is how the territory of the Customs Union was formed. In addition, it includes certain territories or objects under the jurisdiction of the parties to the agreement.

The limit of the territory is the border of the Customs Union with third-party states. Moreover, the existence of borders for individual territories located under the jurisdiction of the Union member states is normatively established.

The management and coordination of the Eurasian Economic Union is carried out by two organs:

  1. Interstate Council- the highest body of a supranational nature, consists of heads of state and head of government of the Customs Union.
  2. Customs Union Commission– an agency that deals with issues related to the formation of customs rules and regulates foreign trade policy.

Directions and conditions

When creating the Customs Union, countries declared the main goal socio-economic progress. In the future, this implies an increase in trade turnover and services produced by business entities.

The increase in sales was initially expected directly in the space of the vehicle itself due to following conditions:

  1. The abolition of customs procedures within the Union, which was supposed to make products produced within a single space more attractive, due to.
  2. Increasing trade turnover by eliminating customs controls at internal borders.
  3. Adoption of uniform requirements and integration of safety standards.

Achieving goals and perspectives

Having collected available information about the emergence and activities of the Customs Union, we can come to the conclusion that the results of increasing the turnover of goods and services are published much less frequently than news about the signing of new agreements, i.e. its declarative part.

But, nevertheless, analyzing the stated goals when creating the Customs Union, as well as observing their implementation, one cannot remain silent that simplification of trade turnover has been achieved and competitive conditions have been improved for economic entities of the Customs Union states.

It follows from this that the Customs Union is on the way to achieving its goals, however, in addition to time, this requires the mutual interest of both the states themselves and the economic elements within the Union.

The customs union consists of countries that have the same economic background, but today these states are very different from each other. Of course, in Soviet time The republics differed in their specialization, but after gaining independence, many more changes occurred that affected the world market and the division of labor.

However, there are also common interests. For example, many participating countries remain dependent on Russian market sales This trend is economic and geopolitical in nature.

Throughout the whole time leading positions in the process of integration and stabilization of the EAEU and the Customs Union played Russian Federation. This was possible due to its stable economic growth until 2014, when prices for raw materials remained high, which helped finance the processes launched by the agreements.

Although such a policy did not predict rapid growth economy, it still assumed the strengthening of Russia’s position on the world stage.

The history of relations between the parties to the agreements is similar to a series of compromises that were built on the basis of the role of Russia and the positions of partner countries. For example, there were repeated statements from Belarus about its priorities: a single economic space with equal prices for oil and gas, access to Russian government procurement.

To achieve these goals, the Republic increased tariffs on imported cars in the absence of its own production. Because of such measures it was necessary to install rules for certification of light industry goods, which hurt retail trade.

In addition, the standards adopted at the CU level were unified with the WTO model, despite the fact that Belarus is not a member of this organization, unlike Russia. Enterprises of the Republic have not received access to Russian import substitution programs.

All this served as obstacles for Belarus on the path to achieving its goals in full.

It should not be overlooked that the signed CU agreements contain various exceptions, clarifications, anti-dumping and countervailing measures, which have become an obstacle to achieving common benefits and equal conditions to all countries. At various times, virtually every participant in the agreement expressed disagreement with the terms contained in the agreements.

Although customs posts on the borders between the parties to the agreement were eliminated, border zones between countries have been preserved. Sanitary control at internal borders also continued. A lack of trust in interaction practice has been revealed. An example of this is the disagreements that flare up from time to time between Russia and Belarus.

Today it is impossible to say that the goals that were declared in the agreement on the creation of the Customs Union have been achieved. This is evident from the decrease in the turnover of goods within the customs area. There are also no benefits for economic development, when compared with the time before the agreements were signed.

But there are still signs that in the absence of an agreement the situation would deteriorate more rapidly. The manifestation of the crisis would be broader and deeper. A significant number of enterprises gain relative benefits by participating in trade relations within the Customs Union.

Methods for distributing customs duties among countries also indicate favorable trends for the Republic of Belarus and the Republic of Kazakhstan. Initially, a large share was planned for the budget of the Russian Federation.

The agreements signed by the parties benefited the production of automobiles. Duty-free sales of cars assembled by manufacturers in participating countries have become available. Thus, conditions have been created for the implementation of projects that previously could not succeed.

What is the Customs Union? Details are in the video.

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