European Union and Eurasian Economic Union: Long-Term Dialogue and Perspectives of Agreement
-
Report (in English)
PDF, 7.35 Mb -
Report (in Russian)
PDF, 5.98 Mb
This report presents preliminary results of conceptual analysis of developing EU-EAEU economic relations and search of practical approaches to achieving that goal. This work is processed by the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA, Austria) and the Centre for Integration Studies of Eurasian Development Bank (EDB) within long-term ongoing joint project “Challenges and Opportunities of Economic Integration within a Wider European and Eurasian Space”.
The conceptual framework of the common economic space “from Lisbon to Vladivostok” has two planning horizons – a short-term and a long-term one.
In the short run, it is essential to take stock of EU-Russia relations. Addressing basic political issues is vital to bring the current conflict to an end. However, to launch an official dialogue between the two unions, it is equally important to get the EU recognise the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) and the Eurasian Economic Commission (EEC).
The underlying assumption of the report is that in future EU-Russia relations will be channelled into constructive frameworks with prospects for lifting mutual sanctions. EU-EAEU relations should be based on long-term visions and planning. Therefore it is essential to step up efforts to normalise and develop relations between the EU and EAEU with the aim to reach an integration agreement in the long run.
The anticipated EU-EAEU cooperation agreement should be comprehensive and take into account a wide range of issues to be covered, the magnitude and structure of relations, and the degree of connectivity between the two unions. Such an agreement can cover many areas of cooperation ranging from trade in goods and services to free capital flows, from the visa-free regime to transborder and transit infrastructure development, from technical regulations to intellectual property right protection.
The report summarises the results of discussions focused on these potential areas of EU-EAEU cooperation and some preliminary proposals formulated in the framework of six high-level round tables (workshops), which brought together representatives of the European Commission, Eurasian Economic Commission, and government bodies, as well as leading experts from EU-EAEU member states.