Tuesday, May 31 2016 12:30

Over the 18 months since the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) was launched we have done a great deal to promote this major integration project", Russian President Vladimir Putin stated at the Session of Supreme Eurasian Economic Council, the press service of Kremlin reports. 

"Most importantly, we have every reason to say that the union is succeeding as a modern international organization committed to addressing the specific economic development issues our countries are facing. After Armenia and Kyrgyzstan joined the EAEU, the Eurasian five formed a large common market with a total population of over 182 million people. As the Union's supra-national body, the Eurasian Economic Commission (EEC) ensures continuity in the management of integration processes. The EEC appointed a new board, effective February 1 that got down to work with little delay.  The organization of the Commission has also been honed to better suit its current purpose. A solid contractual legal framework is in place and continues to expand under the plans we agreed on. Over 60 agreements have been executed in the follow-up to the Treaty on the Eurasian Economic Union", Putin noted. 

We need to continue this momentum in a number of areas, primarily, in the drafting of the Customs Code and the agreement on the procedure for executing international agreements by the union. This goes to say that further integration efforts will be contingent upon the timely adoption of the statutory documents that are needed for further development.

According to the Russian President a lot has been achieved in terms of reducing mutual barriers to the free movement of goods, labor, services and capital. 

"I can't but agree with our colleagues who say that there are still too many barriers. Let me just remind you that of the 422 trade restrictions that were identified during the drafting of the Treaty on the Union, over 80 have already been removed, another 30 are about to be removed, and 16 are expected to disappear in 2016.

The Union member states' participation in the import replacement programme, which is currently underway in Russia, is promising. We call on all our partners to jointly produce equipment and component parts for over 25 industries, including mechanical engineering, electronics and consumer industry, and agriculture.
By 2019 we should build a unified electricity market, approve its concept and draft the respective programme. According to expert assessments, the implementation of this project will provide the Union member states with an extra GDP increase in the amount of $7 billion.

Today, we will make one more step towards a unified hydrocarbons market by 2025, the creation of which was intensely debated in the past, and approve the necessary documents that envisage equal terms for competition in the entire Union territory. This will produce a cumulative effect of over $1 billion in the gas industry and over $8 billion in the oil industry.

This year, we will form a unified market in the socially important area of medicines and healthcare products. The coordination of agreements on the terms and principles for circulation of these goods is nearing completion.

An integral part of the integration process is the liberalisation of trade in services. This year we need to adopt roadmaps for the harmonisation of legislation regulating construction and design, scientific research and tourism. Uniform rules already cover 43 service sectors, or more than 50 percent of the total services produced in the EAEU.
The effective functioning of the integration association will be supported by systematic work on relationship building with external partners. We support Kazakhstan's proposal as the presiding country to focus on the further deepening of EAEU economic relations with other countries and integration associations, primarily with the states of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation and ASEAN", the Russian President stated in his speech.