Today, questions about the EAEU, what it is, what power it can contain, are gradually finding their answers. It is obvious that such apparently stable international organizations as NATO and the European Union of the cohesive Western world lead to the logical contraction of a similar policy of power in the East. And Russia seeks to become the center of such forces by creating the EAEU, the union is designed to generate not only economic growth, but also political weight.
Inactive CIS
EAEU – what is it? Formally, this is a young international association that personifies the eastern opposition to the western monoliths. At the same time, the Eurasian Union is by no means a new idea; it was created on the basis of organizations that already existed, but proved to be ineffective. In principle, the well-known CIS, the Commonwe alth of Independent States, which for the most part was an inactive union with very little content, can be considered the first alliance in this territory.
The second organization in this space was the Eurasian Economic Community. The idea of its creation was submitted by the PresidentKazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev in 1994. For five years, the partners have been looking for optimal solutions for the implementation of the new partnership. And in 2000, Russia, Kazakhstan, Belarus, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan signed an agreement according to which the partnership came into force in 2001.
Customs Union
One of the main issues of the EurAsEC was the discussion of the creation of a single customs area. As a result, at the beginning of 2010, the Customs Union began to work within the framework of the EurAsEC. The Union was created with the aim of strengthening trade integration, creating trade duty-free zones, where the exchange of goods would not be accompanied by any economic restrictions. The union included all the states of the EAEU, the formation of which has also been actively discussed ever since.
The implementation of the unified customs code, which was adopted and ratified by all member states, was not cloudless. The conflict flared up between the Kremlin and Minsk, so much so that Vladimir Putin threatened the Belarusian leader that the union would begin without him. As a result, in April 2011, transport control on the Russian-Belarusian border was canceled. With preserved border and migration controls, exports from these countries assume a zero VAT rate and no excise payments. When importing VAT and excises, they go to the tax authorities of the Russian Federation.
Second step towards common space
At the end of 2011, the participating countries created the Eurasian Economic Commission. Among the main tasks of the commission was, among other things, even morestrengthening economic ties as a springboard on which the creation of the EAEU was supposed to unfold.
In early 2012, the Common Economic Space (CES) was formed, which strengthened the mutual integration of countries. The start of work was marked by 17 agreements ratified by all members of the created space.
This was the last organizational stage, which resulted in the signing on May 29 last year in Astana, the business center of Kazakhstan, of an agreement on the creation of the EAEU. On January 1 this year, the union entered into force with the participation of Russia, Kazakhstan and Belarus, and Armenia ratified the agreement a day later. And only four months later Kyrgyzstan joined.
Armenian share
For a long time, Armenia was dragging its feet on joining the Russian alliances in the Asian theater of world geopolitics. And although the country joined the newborn union on January 2 of this year, until then, for several years, it had been pulling out additional preferences for itself in any talk about joining the same Customs Union and earlier organizations. As a result of the tactics of delay, Armenia knocked out 1.13% of the share of customs duties on goods imported into the territory of the union. It should be noted that the country does not have direct borders with any of the members of the Customs Union. In addition, Armenia will switch to uniform customs tariffs for the purchase of goods (mainly agricultural products) only by 2022. Separate tariffs for milk, eggs and honey will be valid until 2020, andfor fruits and nuts until 2019.
Similar concessions are provided for other types of food products. Until 2018, zero customs duties on gasoline will be applied, a single tariff with the EAEU will be introduced only in 2020. In the same way, it is planned to regulate duties on pharmaceuticals, organic and non-organic products, fertilizers, household chemicals and some others.
Benefits for the new member mainly fell on the largest player in the union - Russia, and, according to some economists, this year it could cost $5.2 billion. It is worth adding that shortly before the official entry of Armenia into the EAEU, the European Union allocated 77.5 million euros.
Arrived in the regiment
Kyrgyzstan has become the last member to join the union, the EAEU will finally accept the new player on May 29, according to the signed documents. The newly elected President of Kazakhstan, Nursultan Nazarbayev, announced the entry on May 8 this year. In his speech, he noted that all the doubts that had arisen earlier were removed.
Moreover, at the same time, the Kazakh leader also announced the intention that the EAEU countries expressed not so long ago to conclude an agreement on a free trade zone with Vietnam. Turkey, Azerbaijan, India and Mongolia also showed interest in this agreement.
Economic Development Strategy
Although there was a long way to create the EAEU, what it is from an economic point of view is still not very clear. Several integration positive aspects were declared at once for nationaleconomics. In particular, the final cost of goods should be reduced due to the significantly reduced costs of transporting goods within countries, as well as selling them abroad. The economic development of the participating countries should be at the same level, which will ensure "he althy" competition. Meanwhile, how the countries would reach the same level was not explained. In addition, cost savings resulting from the removal of trade restrictions are expected to boost productivity and, as a result, raise wages.
The growing territory of the EAEU and economic growth will lead to an increase in demand, adherents of the union believe, which, in turn, will stimulate and contribute to the increase in production of all types of goods. And thus, the well-being of the peoples included in the union should only grow every year.
Compromise approaches
Despite the declared tasks, the union nevertheless began its existence with obligations of a lightweight form. Thus, a much smaller range of powers was left to the Eurasian Economic Commission and the court, which were supposed to monitor and regulate compliance with the agreements. In case of non-fulfillment of the EEC resolutions, the dispute goes to the judicial plane. However, the decisions made by the court are advisory in nature, and of course, decisions on controversial issues are made at the level of the Council of State Leaders. Moreover, until 2025, or even for an indefinite period, decisions on the creation of a financial regulator of the EAEU, as well as a single trade management body, have been postponed.energy resources.
Control Bodies
Within the framework of the EAEU, following the example of the European Union, the relevant administrative bodies were created: the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council and the Eurasian Economic Commission. The composition of the first governing body includes the leaders of the participating countries and the chairmen of the governments of these states. Leaders within the union meet at least once a year, and heads of government meet, as a rule, twice a year. Decisions are made on a democratic basis, they are binding on all members of the union. The powers of the SEEC also include determining the composition and competence of other bodies of the union.
EEC is a permanent body of the Union. Its powers are defined in the charter of the EAEU and imply the provision of conditions for the successful integration of countries into common economic realities. Also, the competences of the previously existing commission of the Customs Union were transferred to the EEC. Among them are the definition of macroeconomic, energy, monetary, migration policy; resolving issues of tariff regulation and natural monopolies, subsidies and foreign trade, and many others. The EEC budget is formed at the expense of contributions from the members of the union.
Western reaction
Organization of a strong eastern alliance, of course, does not smile at Western countries. Both the European powers and the United States express their fears and disagreement with any attempts at integration in the post-Soviet space, and even more so in the former composition. The question "EAEU - what is it, first of all, from a political point of view" at first was hardly askedAre not all political scientists antagonists.
The most categorical dissatisfaction was voiced by the United States, which, after the creation of the Customs Union and on the eve of the agreements on the EAEU, unequivocally designated this as Russia's attempts to take a dominant position in the post-Soviet space. Meanwhile, according to the American political scientist Zbigniew Brzezinski, Russia can become a powerful power and form an eastern policy only if it unites with Ukraine.
Single currency outlook
The Eurasian Union was established relatively recently, but the most pressing issues remain currency and financial integration, which involves, in particular, the creation of a single currency that will strengthen the single market between all participating countries. Already in March of this year, Vladimir Putin instructed the Central Bank and the lower house of parliament to find a solution to these issues together with the central banks of all countries participating in the union by September 1 this year.
Among the names of the new currency are discussed " altyn" (a term of Turkic origin dating back to the Golden Horde) and "Evraz", which intersects with the euro. Experts, commenting on the idea of a single currency, note that full-fledged integration is impossible without it. Earlier, the idea of creating a single Eurasian Central Bank following the example of the Central European Bank for Kazakhstan, Russia and Belarus was also expressed. The documents signed on this issue indicated the year 2025. At the same time, the deteriorating geopolitical situation is likely to push, in particular, Vladimir Putin to accelerate measures, they believeanalytics.
Political ambitions
As soon as we started talking about monetary integration within the EAEU, international experts began to evaluate the union even more clearly from the point of view of an exclusively political plane. Experts argue that accelerating this process with complete distrust of any of the currencies of the participating countries is an extremely risky operation, and the prospects for the EAEU raise big questions in this context. Understanding this, of course, will convince the partners to meet Moscow halfway, but it will also allow them to bargain for a lot of concessions. All countries, analysts say, are ready to work together only if they can get something in return. These preferences will be covered by the Russian budget. And since the extreme interest in the union is obvious from the Russian side, it may have the weakest position.
