EBRD

Transition Report 2012 INTEGRATION ACROSS BORDERS

Chapter4 Bar

Chapter 4

Regional trade integration and Eurasian economic union

At the start of transition over 20 years ago many old economic ties within and between countries in the former communist bloc were severed. Initial centrifugal forces quickly gave way to regional integration initiatives, both among transition countries themselves and with new trading partners in the West. Between 1992 and 2007 most countries in central Europe and the Baltic states (CEB) and south-eastern Europe joined the Central European Free Trade Agreement (CEFTA) and 10 later joined the European Union. (Croatia will do so in 2013.)

The latest development in regional economic integration, and the first successful attempt involving constituent countries of the former Soviet Union, is the creation, within the Eurasian Economic Community,1 of a Customs Union and Common Economic Space by Belarus, Kazakhstan and Russia and of new supranational institutions, including a Eurasian Economic Commission.

Based on the early evidence, this chapter assesses what the new Customs Union has achieved to date and what it could potentially accomplish in the future. It considers whether a common tariff policy is having any measurable impact, whether the Union is lowering non-tariff trade barriers and also what the potential effects on trade might be of reducing barriers further. It also examines whether regional economic integration can help to promote member countries' exports and contribute to better economic institutions, drawing additionally on experiences of trade integration elsewhere in the world.


1 The Eurasian Economic Community includes Belarus, Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, Russia and Tajikistan.

icon-toolsTools

icon-pdfOther Reports

Annual Report 2012
pdf English
pdf French
pdf German
pdf Russian

Financial Report 2012
pdf English
pdf French
pdf German
pdf Russian

pdf Donor Report 2013

pdf Sustainability Report 2012