Introduction to the Eurasian Economic Union

The Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU), which includes Russia, Kazakhstan, Belarus, Kyrgyzstan, and Armenia, is a new but substantial regional organization. Significant achievements include a common external customs tariff, a customs union and a common labour market: a well-developed institutional environment has emerged to support and advance these processes, ranging from the Eurasian Economic Commission and the EAEU Court to the Eurasian Development Bank and the Eurasian Fund for Stabilization and Development. This major integration achievement also has several drawbacks and ‘stumbling stones’—some due to Russia’s dominant position, some due to the authoritarian nature of political regimes, and some due to dependence on oil and gas exports.

This book presents a detailed qualitative and quantitative assessment of the Eurasian Economic Union, including the history of Eurasian integration, the macroeconomy of EAEU member states, an assessment of trade and investment links, a descriptive analysis of the EAEU Treaty, an analysis of Eurasian institutions, the sociology of integration, the EAEU’s emerging foreign economic policy, relations with the EU and China, the EAEU’s position on One Belt One Road policies, and its mid-term policy agenda. This primer text will be of interest and value for students, academics and practitioners working in economic policy and business communities and interested in the history and development of the Eurasian Economic Union.

Dr Evgeny Vinokurov is Director of the Centre for Integration Studies at the Eurasian Development Bank in Russia. As the founding director of the Centre of Integration Studies, he is responsible for an extensive research agenda which focuses on economic integration. Evgeny has written and edited a number of monographs on regional integration, including Evaluating Regional Organizations: Behind the Smokescreen of Official Mandates; Eurasian Integration: Challenges of Transcontinental Regionalism; and Holding-Together Integration: 20 Years of Post-Soviet Integration (Palgrave Macmillan, 2017, 2012, 2012, co-authored with Alexander Libman). He has published in journals such as the Journal of Common Market Studies, Review of International Political Economy, European Urban and Regional Studies, Russian Journal of Economics, and Post-Communist Economies.