By Sergey Gusachenko: It is already the third summit on economic prospects of Eurasia this year, following the summits in Astana and Minsk. The meeting in the Belarusian capital resulted in a range of important statements. For example, the parties agreed to eliminate existing restrictions and barriers on the key markets. The integration acquired international dimension: Kyrgyzstan and Armenia declared their intention to enter the union. Finally, it was made known that the Treaty on the creation of the Eurasian Economic Union was to be signed in May 2014.
Summit in Moscow began with narrow-format negotiations. Presidents of Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan discussed the current work on a draft Treaty on the Eurasian Economic Union.
Structurally, document consists of two main parts: an institutional one, describing what will be the future economic union, and a functional one, defining how it will work. The first part is practically ready, although there are certain sections, for example, relating to quality control, service trade, investment and others, that still need to be harmonized. As for the functional part, it is only 30% ready. Alexander Lukashenko stresses, there are several delicate issues that significantly inhibit integration.
Presidents of potential partners of the Eurasian bloc - Armenia and Kyrgyzstan - are also present at the summit in Moscow. Prime Minister of Ukraine Mykola Azarov arrived in the Kremlin instead of Viktor Yanukovych. Earlier, Kiev decided to join five international agreements of the Customs Union.
The parties also discussed the so-called roadmap - the plan of actions that will enable Yerevan, and later Bishkek, to become a full-fledged member of the CU and CES.
There are about 10 questions on the summit agenda, including the interaction of the treaty with other international documents. The position of Belarus is logical and clear: the economic union should not prevent the conclusion of new agreements and reverse the already existing ones.
A new integration unit is to start functioning since January 1, 2015. The greatest part of work has already been done, but signing the contract and launching the project require full understanding on all issues. Therefore the future of large-scale integration project depends on the coordinated cooperation of the partners.
Summit in Moscow began with narrow-format negotiations. Presidents of Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan discussed the current work on a draft Treaty on the Eurasian Economic Union.
Structurally, document consists of two main parts: an institutional one, describing what will be the future economic union, and a functional one, defining how it will work. The first part is practically ready, although there are certain sections, for example, relating to quality control, service trade, investment and others, that still need to be harmonized. As for the functional part, it is only 30% ready. Alexander Lukashenko stresses, there are several delicate issues that significantly inhibit integration.
Presidents of potential partners of the Eurasian bloc - Armenia and Kyrgyzstan - are also present at the summit in Moscow. Prime Minister of Ukraine Mykola Azarov arrived in the Kremlin instead of Viktor Yanukovych. Earlier, Kiev decided to join five international agreements of the Customs Union.
The parties also discussed the so-called roadmap - the plan of actions that will enable Yerevan, and later Bishkek, to become a full-fledged member of the CU and CES.
There are about 10 questions on the summit agenda, including the interaction of the treaty with other international documents. The position of Belarus is logical and clear: the economic union should not prevent the conclusion of new agreements and reverse the already existing ones.
A new integration unit is to start functioning since January 1, 2015. The greatest part of work has already been done, but signing the contract and launching the project require full understanding on all issues. Therefore the future of large-scale integration project depends on the coordinated cooperation of the partners.
