EURASIAN ECONOMIC COMMUNITY (EAEC)
Participants: Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan
Observers: Armenia, Moldova, Ukraine
Background
In May 2000 President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin launched the initiative to transform the Customs Union of Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Russia created in 1995 into a new economic organization - the Eurasian Economic Community (EAEC).
On October 10, 2000 in Astana (Kazakhstan) Presidents of Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia and Tajikistan signed the treaty on creation of the Eurasian Economic Community.
In December 2003 the EAEC gained the status of an observer at the UN General Assembly.
On September 7, 2005 at St. Petersburg summint was made a decision to merge the CACO with the Eurasian Economic Community .
According to the decisions made in June 2006 at the Minsk summit of the Eurasian Economic Community member-states, formation of the customs union (CU) will be continued within the framework of the EAEC that used the results of the preliminary work done within the Single Economic Space projects. Agencies charged with the SES formation will act on the platform of the EAEC Secretariat. The decision is appropriate as the goals and tasks of the EAEC and the SES are virtually identical: creation of the common market and single economic space.
On October 6, 2007, Dushanbe hosted the EAEC summit. The summit adopted the concept of the Customs Union of Russia, Kazakhstan and Belarus. The plan of action synchronizes the multilateral efforts to form the Customs Union for three years. The decision was made to form the Customs Union Committee, a supranational body. Russia took 57 percent of votes in it, Kazakhstan and Belarus – 21.5 percent each.
In October 2008 Uzbekistan withdrew from the Eurasian Economic Community because of its doubts about that entity efficiency.
On November 12, 2008 the EAEC officially confirmed that Uzbekistan had withdrawn from it.
On December 12, 2008 Moscow played host to the EAEC Intergovernmental Council meeting. The meeting decided to stop Uzbekistan’s participation in the EAEC at Uzbek President Islom Karimov’s request. Besides, following the meeting the Prime Ministers concluded the agreements on encouragement and mutual protection of investments, the agreement on technical regulations harmonization. They also adopted the concept of formation of the EAEC common energy market.
Major Objectives
Member states of the EAEC set themselves the following targets:
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Creating the free trade regime
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Introducing common customs tariff and harmonizing non tariff regulation
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Creating the common customs area with the common system of customs regulation and the common management of the customs services.
Documents
The EAEC activity is regulated by the following documents:
Managing Bodies
The EAEC managing bodies are the Intergovernmental Council, the Committee for Integration, the Interparliamentary Assembly, and the Court of Community.
The Intergovernmental Council is the superior managing body of the EAEC. It comprises the heads of state and the heads of government. The Intergovernmental Council deals with the principal issues concerning the common interests of the Community member states, determines strategy, tendencies and future prospects of integration and makes decisions on implementation of the tasks of the EAEC.
The Committee for Integration is the executive body of the EAEC. It comprises the deputy heads of the government. The Committee provides interaction of the EAEC bodies, controls implementation of the decisions made by the Intergovernmental Council, draws up a Community budget and controls its execution.
In the Intergovernmental Council the decisions are made by consensus and in the Committee, its councils and commissions - by two thirds of the vote. Belarus has 20% of the vote, Kazakhstan – 20%, Kyrgyzstan – 10%, Russia – 40%, Tajikistan – 10%.
The Interparliamentary Assembly is the body of the interparliamentary cooperation. The Interparliamentary Assembly renders legal assistance to the EAEC and works on harmonization of the laws of the member states of the Community, bringing them to conformity with the treaties concluded in the framework of the EAEC.
The Assembly is formed of the parliamentarians delegated by the Parliaments of the member states of the Community: 14 parliamentarians are delegated from Belarus, 14 - from Kazakhstan, 7 - from Kyrgyzstan, 28 - from Russia, and 7 - from Tajikistan.
The Court of Communityprovides a uniform application of the EAEC treaties and other legal documents in the member states. The Court of Community is not formed yet, its functions are exercised by the Economic Court of the CIS.
Personalities
Tair Mansurov,Secretary General of the EAEC
Links
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