Eurasian Economic Union - Time for Modernization

The article analyzes the five-year period for the implementation of the Treaty on the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) and highlights the main problems of its development at the present stage. Among them there are external pressure on the EAEU from major economic agents (China) and regional economic partnerships (European Union), which leads to erosion of the Eurasian integration processes. The interaction of the EAEU partners has a negative impact on the strengthening of Western sanctions against Russia. Domestic disintegration factors are the low share of mutual trade and investment, the lack of tangible progress in the formation of common sectoral markets, the rapid growth of new non-tariff barriers and exceptions to the general rules of trade, the growth in the number of trade and currency conflicts. A serious problem is the weakening of the potential of Russia as a driver of economic integration in the EAEU. First of all, it concerns the level of innovativeness of the economy, which is the most important attractive factor in the conditions of the fourth industrial revolution. Tax and investment competition within jurisdictions within the EEU is increasing, which leads to the migration of Russian business to Kazakhstan and Belarus. In this regard, the article raises the question of a significant adjustment of the model of integration in the EAEU. New initiatives and actions are proposed, which should give a tangible effect on the existence of the EAEU for the population and business. We are talking about reorienting economic integration towards the consumer, stimulating informal integration, which should become the basis for strengthening formal integration at the macro level, developing a joint program to develop technologies of the fourth industrial revolution “Make in EAEU 2030” for structural and technological modernization of the economies of the EAEU countries, in which all states of the Union are interested.

1. About Work on Elimination of Barriers in Foreign Markets (2019). Ministry of Economic Development of the Russian Federation. Available at: economy.gov.ru/wps/wcm/connect/1bd0c1af-ab67.../Prez20190218.PPTX, accessed 31.03.2019 (in Russian).

2. Afontsev S. (2014) New Regionalism. PostNauka, May 29, 2014. Available at: https://postnauka.ru/longreads/26527, accessed 31.03.2019 (in Russian).

3. Alekseevskikh А. (2015) The Eurasian Economic Union is not Yet Ready for a Single Currency. Izvestiya, May 6, 2015. Available at: https://iz.ru/news/586121, accessed 31.03.2019 (in Russian).

4. Amrebaev А. (2016) How does Russia’s Policy Affect the Economy of the EAEU Countries? Kapital. kz, February 9, 2016. Available at: https://kapital.kz/ex-pert/47712/kak-politika-rossii-otrazhaet-sya-na-ekonomike-stran-eaes.html, accessed 31.03.2019 (in Russian).

5. Declaration on Further Development of Integration Processes within the Eurasian Economic Union (2018). Eurasian Economic Union, December 6, 2018. Available at: https://docs.eaeunion.org/docs/ru-ru/01420213/ms_10122018, accessed 31.03.2019 (in Russian).

6. Demidov V. (2018) What will the Single Currency of the EAEU Bring and whether it is Necessary in Principle. Zakon. kz, September 18, 2018. Available at: https://www.zakon.kz/49 37591-chto-pri-neset-edinaya-valyuta-eaes-i.html, accessed 41.03.2019 (in Russian).

7. Glinkina S.P., Kulikova N.V., Turae-va M.O., Golubkin A.V., Yakovlev А.А. (2018) The Chinese Factor in the Development of the Russian Neighborhood Belt: Lessons for Russia. Scientific Report, Moscow: Institute of Economics RAS (in Russian).

8. Global Innovation Index 2018. Energizing the World with Innovation (2018). Cornell University, INSEAD, WIPO. Available at: https://www.wipo.int/edocs/pub-docs/en/wipo_pub_gii_2018.pdf, accessed 31.03.2019.

9. Inozemtsev V. (2019) What is wrong with Eurasian integration. RBC, February 12, 2019. Available at: https://www.rbc.ru/opinions/politics/12/02/2019/5c6277b79a7947ca4c388822, accessed 31.03.2019 (in Russian).

10. Integration Barometer EDB-2017 (2017). Eurasian Development Bank, December 6, 2017. Available at: https://eabr.org/analytics/integration-research/cii-reports/integratsionnyy-barometr-eabr-2017/, accessed 31.03.2019 (in Russian).

11. Karaganov S. (2018) EEU: from Slowdown to Deepening. Rossijskaya gazeta, December 4, 2018. Available at: https://rg.ru/2018/12/04/karaganov-integraciia-v-ram-kah-eaes-prinosit-politicheskie-vygody.ht-ml, accessed 31.03.2019 (in Russian).

12. Kheyfets B.A. (2018) Globalization Does not End, it Becomes Another. Outlines of Global Transformations: Politics, Economics, Law, no 1, pp. 14-33 (in Russian). DOI: 10.23932/2542-0240-2018-11-1-14-33

13. Kholodkov V.M., Shevchenko A.M., Aleksandrov D.A., Ippolitov I.V, Popov D.S., Makarevskij M.N., Mordvinova A.E. (2019) Eurasian Economic Union: Problems of Development and Attitude to the EAEU in Central Asia. Problems of National Strategy, no 1, pp. 9-57. Available at: https://riss.ru/analitycs/58370/, accessed 31.03.2019 (in Russian).

14. Knobel A. (2015) Eurasian Economic Union: Development Prospects and Possible Obstacles. Voprosy Ekonomiki, no 3, pp. 87-108 (in Russian). DOI: 10.32609/0042-8736-2015-3-87-108

15. Knobel A. (2018) Scandal in the Union: How the Tax Maneuver Quarreled Moscow and Minsk. RBC, December 18, 2018. Available at: https://www.rbc.ru/opinions/economics/18/12/2018/5c1785399a79473cde10ccbe, accessed 31.03.2019 (in Russian).

16. Lenchuk E.B. (ed.) (2018) Formation of the Digital Economy in Russia: Problems, Risks, Prospects. Collective Scientific and Analytical Report, Moscow: Institute of Economics RAS (in Russian).

17. Muminov A. (2019) What Kazakhstan’s Partners in the EAEU are Dissatisfied with in Relation to the Sugar Market. Kapital. kz, February 12, 2019. Available at: https://kapital.kz/economic/75745/chem-partnery-kazahstana-po-eaes-nedovolny-v-otnoshenii-saharnogo-rynka.html, accessed 31.03.2019 (in Russian).

18. Myadzvedzeva V. (2019) Petrishen-ko: Today it is Possible to Call the EAEU an Economic Union in Advance. Zvyazda. by, March 19, 2019. Available at: http://zvi-azda.by/be/news/20190319/1552981591-petrishenko-nazyvat-eaes-ekonomi-cheskim-soyuzom-segodnya-mozhno-tolko, accessed 31.03.2019 (in Russian).

19. National Currencies in Mutual Settlements in the Framework of the EEC: Obstacles and Prospects (2018). Eurasian Development Bank. Report No. 48. Available at: https://eabr.org/upload/iblock/912/EDB-Centre_2018_Report-48_National-Currencies_RUS.pdf, accessed 31.03.2019 (in Russian).

20. Petrovskij P. (2019) What Awaits Relations between Belarus and Russia in 2019: a Look from Minsk. Eurasia-Expert, January 16, 2019. Available at: http://eurasia.ex-pert/chto-zhdet-otnosheniya-belarusi-i-rossii-v-2019-godu/, accessed 31.03.2019 (in Russian).

21. Report on the Implementation of the Main Directions of Integration within the Eurasian Economic Union (2018). Eurasian Economic Commission. Available at: http://www.eurasiancommission.org/ru/act/integr_i_makroec/dep_razv_integr/Documents/%D0%94%D0%BE%D0%BA%D0%BB%D0%B0%D0%B4%20%D0%B8%D0%BD%D1%82%D0%B5%D0%B3%D1%80%D0%B0%D1%86%D0%B8%D1%8F.pdf, accessed 31.03.2019 (in Russian).

22. Results of Counteraction to Illegal Import of Sanctioned Goods (2016). Federal Customs Service, January 27, 2016. Available at: http://www.customs.ru/index.php?option=com_content&view=artic-le&id=22499:2016-, accessed 31.03.2019 (in Russian).

23. Tkachev I., Fejnberg А. (2017) Hidden Account for $100 Billion: how Russia Supports the Belarusian Economy. RBC, April 2, 2017. Available at: https://www.rbc.ru/economics/02/04/2017/58e026879a79471d6c8aef30, accessed 31.03.2019 (in Russian).

24. Treaty on the Eurasian Economic Union (2014). Ministry of Economic Development of the Russian Federation, May 29, 2014. Available at: http://economy.gov.ru/minec/about/structure/depSNG/agree-ment-eurasian-economic-union, accessed 31.03.2019 (in Russian).

25. Vinokurov E. (2016) Eurasian Economic Union without Emotions. Voprosy Ekonomiki, no 12, pp. 43-60 (in Russian). DOI: 10.32609/0042-8736-2016-12-43-60

26. Vorobev А. (2017) China and Central Asia: Growing Friendship at Russian Borders. Russian International Affairs Council, June 4, 2017. Available at: http://russian-council.ru/analytics-and-comments/ana-lytics/kitay-i-tsentralnaya-aziya-rastush-chaya-druzhba-pod-bokom-rossii-/, accessed 31.03.2019 (in Russian).

27. Zevin L.Z. (2015) On Some Problems of the Economic Space of Eurasia of the XXI Century, Moscow: Institute of Economics RAS (in Russian).