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The idea of a single economic space between
Vladivostok and Lisbon goes back quite some time and
was not only expressed by Russian President Vladimir
Putin and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, but
was also mentioned in such documents as the recent
position paper of the German-Russian Chamber of
Commerce.
However, in reality the idea
never came into action, and
there is currently a lack of a
more detailed plan of how
such a single economic space
would operate. The most
probable reason for this is that
most participating countries
have differing understandings
of the fundamental principles
of such a project.
The motivation behind the idea appears to be quite
simple:
• Russia and its neighboring countries possess
energy and natural resources and are in need
of technology.
• The EU needs natural resources and possesses
the relevant technology.
However, in practice, this would be somewhat difficult
to accomplish: the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU)
has much higher customs rates than the European
Union, and the state budgets of Russia and other
EEU countries depend to a far greater degree upon
customs revenue than those in Western Europe.
A single economic space is
based on more than just free
trade, and should first and
foremost focus more on other
areas of common interest.
These main areas largely
surround non-tariff barriers,
such as product certification,
legal regulations on court
rulings, indirect taxes such
as cross-border VAT, visa
regulations, etc.
The single economic space would comprise of not
only the EU and the EEU, but would involve other
countries, in particular, Ukraine .
A symbol of the opportunities between Vladivostok
and Lisbon is the single electric plug for the area of
over 10,000 kilometers from the Pacific to the Atlantic.
It is up to the decision makers in Europe and Eurasia
to realize these opportunities.
Introduction
Reference
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