Decoration element

EurAsEC has acquired a financial and economic council

Yesterday, the Eurasian Economic Community (EurAsEC) had a new body - the Council on Financial and Economic Policy. Recently, in various interstate associations with the participation of Russia, a real fashion has arisen for the creation of various kinds of business and economic committees. Not more than a month ago, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) acquired its own business council. Before this, almost all international unions were replenished with similar units. True, the effectiveness of these organs is still barely noticeable.

According to Economic Development Minister German Gref, who, together with his colleague Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin, was elected co-chairman of the council, its main goal is to develop a strategy and tactics for the development of the community on economic issues and financial policy issues. According to him, it will be necessary to develop the main guidelines for the socio-economic development of the community in the medium term. In fact, the community itself is positioned as purely “economic” and, in theory, deals only with these issues.

The Council will meet twice a year. The next meeting will take place in April 2006. According to Mr. Gref, proposals for the development of integration within the community will be prepared for the council meeting. In addition, the issue of the role of the EurAsEC and its relations with the Common Economic Space (SES) will be considered. The minister also said that a list of interstate target programs will be prepared for the next meeting.

But, unfortunately, there is a high probability that the council will become just another decorative body. The EurAsEC already has a business council, a council of heads of authorized bodies for regulating securities markets and a council of heads of tax authorities. Practice shows that agreements on economic issues become real only on a bilateral basis, and at a level no lower than the presidential level. Even the associations themselves, not to mention their councils, cannot boast of any specific agreements. The Common Economic Space, for example, has existed on paper since 2003, but so far it has not been possible to make a single real decision.

The Treaty establishing the Eurasian Economic Community was signed in 2000 by the presidents of Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, and Tajikistan. Armenia, Moldova and Ukraine have observer status within the EurAsEC, although the participation of the latter two states in this association is practically excluded for political reasons. This year, Uzbekistan joined the union after the merger of the EurAsEC and the Central Asian Cooperation Organization (CACO).

Vera SITNINA