What is the current rationale of Eurasian economic integration and what can be done to realise it? This question was posed by Timofei Bordachev, Programme Director of the Valdai Discussion Club, to the participants in the discussion, titled “EAEU: What’s Next?”, which took place on December 14. In his opinion, today we can see a certain stagnation in the integration process, and an era of uncertainty awaits ahead.
Alexander Knobel, Director of the Institute of International Economics and Finance of the Russian Academy of Foreign Trade, noted that a pause in integration is due to aggravation of a number of problems existing in the Eurasian space. According to him, these problems include limited powers of the Eurasian Economic Commission, which actually performs the functions of interstate regulation rather than regulation on a supranational level, asymmetry of the effects of the reduction of internal and external barriers, dominance of redistributive motives over creative ones within the framework of the union, and de facto non-unified economic policy towards third countries.
Rakhim Oshakbayev, Director of the TALAP Center for Applied Research, suggested a different look at what is happening, believing that the somewhat slower pace of integration was just a natural consequence of the extremely high pace that was initially gained. “We have laid a great foundation and in the coming years and decades we must build something on its basis,” he stressed. Only after that, when the value and results of integration are realised, it will be possible to proceed to the next stage. So far, the issue of deepening integration is not on the agenda.
Sergey Chernyshev, Assistant to a Member of the Board (Minister) for Trade of the EEC, summed up the results of the outgoing year in the field of Eurasian economic integration, saying that the EAEU is getting out of the difficult situation quite well. The Eurasian Economic Commission worked efficiently and quickly, common opinions on controversial issues were reached within a matter of days. After analysing the genesis of the Eurasian Economic Union in comparison with the European Union, he pointed out that the EAEU historically doesn’t have an independent budget. This is an important problem, which hinders the development of joint projects, he stressed.
