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13 Whitehead J. Dipl. & Int'l Rel. 29 (2012)
Eurasian Economic Union: Why Now: Will It Work: Is It Enough

handle is hein.journals/whith13 and id is 147 raw text is: Eurasian Economic Union: Why Now? Will It Work? Is It Enough? by Alexander Libman and Evgeny Vinokurov The former Soviet republics' regional integration initiatives are as longstanding as their independence. 'The very act that dissolved the USSR (the Belovezh accords) simultaneously established the new regional organization: the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). In the years that followed, other regional organizations, such as the Eurasian Economic Community (EurAsEC), the Russia-Belarus Union, and the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTOI)-along with many sub- treaties and sub-organizations within these structures-were established. Until recently, however, the enterprise of post-Soviet integration seemed to be no more than an 'ink-on-paper' exercise. The leaders of the post-Soviet countries regularly assembled at high-profile meetings and signed new treaties with poorly defined goals to create various forms of a new 'Eurasian EU.' How ever, they ignored these treaties in their policy-making, often replacing them with new treaties containing virtually the same content. In fact, the rhetorical nature of post-Soviet regionalism was accepted by most of its participants who nevertheless continued to play the integration game for reasons associated mainly with domestic politics.' The situation has changed dramatically over the past three years. The Customs Union (CU) established in 2010 by Russia, Belarus, and Kazakhstan in the framework of the EurAsEC became the first integration initiative whose partners truly upheld the commitments they had made, doing so in spite of the substantial cost involved.2 Moreover, the CU affects matters of national importance and has a strong influence on post-Soviet economies. In 2012, the CL -was folloxwed by a set of agreements to form a Common Economic Space (CES). The new supranational institution, the Eurasian Economic Commission (EEC), was launched in February 2012 to coordinate the CU and the CES. It is partly modeled after the EU Commission and is endowed with substantial supranational authorit. A declaration proclaiming the goal of establishing the Eurasian Economic Union (EEL) by 2015-signed by Russia, Belarus, and Kazakhstan in November, 2011-seems to be much more realistic than similar acts passed beforehand. However, a degree of Alexander Libman is Assistant Professor of International Political Economy, Frankfurt School of Finance & Management (Germany), and senior research fellow, Institute of Economics of the Russian Academy of Sciences (Moscow Russia). Evgeny Vinokurov is Director of the Center of Integration Studies of the Eurasian Development Bank, St. Petersburg, Russia. 29 The h1/itehead I of Deplomlacy and Internadon /Relaions

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