What economic unions exist? List of international economic unions

Any type of organization in which countries agreed to coordinate their trade and monetary policies with other countries is called economic integration. Obviously, there are many different degrees of integration.

• Preferential trade agreement (PTA). The PTA agreement is perhaps the most basic form of economic integration. PTA, as a rule, offers reduction of tariffs for partners in some commodity categories.
• Free Trade Zone (FTA). It is created in the event that a group of countries eliminates tariffs among themselves, but maintains an external tariff for imports from other states. An example of the creation of a FTA is the NAFTA agreement, which implies zero tariffs for car imports between the United States and Mexico. However, for member countries that are not part of NAFTA, there are other established tariffs for car imports in Mexico.
• Customs Union. It is in the case when a group of countries eliminates tariffs between their states, but they establish a common tariff for imports from the rest of the world.
• Single Economic Union. The single market provides for trade at optimal tariffs, establishes common external tariffs among members, and also creates advantages for free movement of money between countries. The European Union was created as a single common market for the Treaty of Rome in 1975
• The Economic Union. Economic unions of countries, as a rule, support the free trade in goods, establish common external tariffs between members, determine the conditions for free monetary movement of capital. The Common European Union Policy in Agriculture (CAP) is an example of the type of financial coordination of an indicative economic community.
• Currency union. The key to creating a common currency among a group of countries is the Monetary Union, which includes the formation of the main financial body that determines the monetary policy for the whole group.

The beginning of the Eurasian Economic Community's way

The Eurasian Economic Union is an international organization based on regional economic integration and international organization. This means that the decisions of its bodies (the Eurasian Economic Council, the Economic Commission and the Economic Court) become norms of international law.

The territory of the Eurasian Union (EurAsEC) covers more than 20 million km ² (15% of terrestrial land), within the community there is a population of 183 million people.

The Treaty on the Eurasian Economic Union provides for the coordination of the activities of agriculture, industry, and energy; General sanitary and technical standards. By creating commonwealths of economic organizations, it is planned to create a common market for pharmaceuticals by 2016, by 2019 the completion of the establishment of a common energy market is expected, and by 2025 - the oil, gas, oil products market.

History remembers examples of the reorganization of international economic organizations into political or even military alliances, a good example of this is the economic community of West African states. Not so much time has passed since the creation, as its focus shifted from commercial projects to military operations within the borders of the Commonwealth countries.

Friendship of peoples above all!

December 22, 2014 was marked by the exchange of ratification certificates on good-neighborly and allied relations between Russia and Kazakhstan. The Treaty on the Eurasian Economic Union does not abolish the previous agreement on economic and political cooperation signed between the countries in 1992, on the contrary, it complements and expands the scope of interaction and allows the implementation of both plans in parallel.

The organization is open to any state that is ready to share the goals and the conditions prescribed in the treaty between the states. At the end of 2014 Armenia and Kyrgyzstan also joined the Union.

It is worth noting that President Putin paid a business visit to Uzbekistan, where the terms of the country's accession to the Eurasian Union were negotiated. The speaker of the Federal Assembly of Russia said that consultations are underway on the possible entry of Tajikistan into the Eurasian Economic Union.

The reason for the emergence of the Eurasian Economic Community

The Customs Union of the Eurasian Economic Community (CU) has come into full force since January 2010 as the Customs Union of Belarus, Kazakhstan and Russia, a little later, Armenia and Kyrgyzstan joined it.

The Customs Economic Union was formed as the beginning of the economic union of the republics, formerly part of the USSR. Thus, Member States continue the path of economic integration through the removal of customs borders between themselves. At the end of 2014, the Eurasian Economic Union was created on the basis of the Customs Union, which is a common currency area for encouraging further economic integration.

Member States of the Eurasian Economic Community: Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia.

The documents signed in 1995, 1999 and 2007 serve to regulate and protect the Customs Union with regulatory rights. The single economic space is designed to monitor the document of 2007, the first regulates the creation of the TS, the second - its education.

Regulations of the Customs Union

Technical regulations, the approval of which is the basis for joining the CU:

- National product certificates.

- Certificates of the Customs Union issued in accordance with the document, which lists the products subject to mandatory confirmation of compliance. This certificate is valid in all TC countries.

- Growth rates of external turnover and mutual trade of the TS. The single customs code is regulated by the Eurasian Economic Commission and the Department of Statistics.

Economic unions often seek to import and export only those goods that are profitable in a particular economic zone. An example of this is the TS. Only goods that qualify as "TC goods" can be freely imported / exported within the established territory. In accordance with Article 4 of the Customs Code, goods acquire this status in the following cases:

- Products manufactured within the boundaries of the TS.

- Products, goods released for domestic consumption with payment of customs duties prescribed in the contract.

- Products that meet both conditions: released within the boundaries of the TS for the purpose of domestic consumption.

Products that do not meet the criteria for goods of the Customs Union, for which no relevant documents have been presented for the purpose of determining the destination of the goods of the Customs Union, must undergo a single customs duty procedure within the borders of the Customs Union.

Other economic unions of Russia

- APEC. Economic Cooperation (APEC) was established in 1989 to unite the countries of the Asia-Pacific region. APEC represents a forum for 21 states. The purpose of the commonwealth has long been to establish markets for products, raw materials and materials outside Europe. Experts believe that AECS was created in response to the growing economy of industrially developed Japan, which can dominate in the Asia-Pacific region. However, strategically the commonwealth is important primarily for the states that enter it, as it helps to coordinate economic activity between interdependent countries.

- CIS. The interaction between some countries of the former USSR on the basis of sovereign equality is based on the agreement of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). At present, the CIS includes the following countries: Azerbaijan, Armenia, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Ukraine. The agreement was signed in 1991.

- BRICS. BRICS unites the five major emerging economies of the following countries: Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. Before joining South Africa, the organization was called "BRIC". All the countries in the group have a fast-growing economy, have a significant impact on regional and global changes.

As of the end of 2014, BRICS coverage extends to 3 billion people, which is 40% of the world's population.

The Commonwealth was founded in 2006 within the framework of the St. Petersburg Forum of Ministers of Economy of Brazil, the Russian Federation, India and China. The first meeting was held in 2009 in Yekaterinburg. At the meetings, issues of mutual partnership, lending, the environment and ecology are discussed.

On the path of the Maastricht Treaty

The European Economic Union (EU) is an economic and political federation of twenty-seven member countries that have a common policy in several areas. The EU was established in 1993 with the signing of a treaty on the European Union, which, as a rule, is called the Maastricht Treaty. However, this was preceded by the creation of several European organizations that contributed to the development of the EU.

The EU initially consisted of 12 states: Denmark, Germany, Greece, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Belgium, Portugal, Ireland, France, Spain and the United Kingdom. In 1993, the European Council, which met in Copenhagen (Denmark), defined the criteria for accession to the EU. These requirements, known as the Copenhagen criteria, include such basics as:

• A stable democracy that respects human rights and the rule of law;
• Functioning market competitive economy;
• The adoption of obligations arising from membership, including EU legislation.

Development of the EU after 1993

The EU has increased threefold since its inception. In 1995, three new members joined: Austria, Finland and Sweden. In 2004, 10 new members joined the EU, mainly from the former Soviet bloc: the Czech Republic, Cyprus, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Hungary, Slovakia and Slovenia. In 2007, Romania and Bulgaria, which did not meet the entry criteria in 2004, were admitted and admitted to the Union. In 2013, the list was replenished by the state of Croatia.

One of the goals of the EU is an economic and monetary union, which means the creation of a common European currency. International trade within the borders of the common currency zone will contribute significantly to the creation of a single market, complete with uniform pricing and regulation of national markets. The creation of a single market can stimulate increased competition among niche products and facilitate the relations of corporate financing, in particular, international trade between members of a single currency space. Finally, in the long term, the creation of a common trade and monetary space should simplify European corporate structures for the settlement of all regulatory acts to homogeneous ones.

Euro

Economic unions often set a goal to rally the economies of their constituent countries. Optimal management of economic activity in one currency area can be achieved by introducing a single currency; Such convergence will create greater uniformity between different national economies. The conditions established for the introduction of the euro and the creation of a single currency:

1. Maintaining the international exchange rate within a given range (the exchange rate mechanism or ERM) for a period of at least two years before the introduction of the euro.
2. Maintenance of long-term interest rates.
3. Control of public debt within established limits.
4. Maintenance of the general public debt at the level of no more than 60% of the gross domestic product.

Structure of the EU

The European Economic Union includes 4 administrative bodies that deal with specific areas of economic and political activity.

1. The Council of Ministers. Consists, as a rule, from representatives of the ministries of foreign affairs of the EU member states. The Council of Ministers of Europe has the right to a final decision on all matters that are not subject to the conditions of fixed treaties established in the EU or its previous organization. The Council of Ministers approves the Committee of Observers, resolves issues related to relations between the EU countries in the following areas: governance, agriculture, fisheries, industrial policy and the domestic market, research, energy, transport, and ecology.

2. European Commission. Economic unions of states, as a rule, form expert bodies for solving financial issues. As such an executive organization of the EU is the European Commission. It seeks to serve the interests of Europe as a whole on issues of external relations, economics, finance, industry and agricultural policy.

3. The European Parliament. Includes representatives of EU member states, who are elected by direct vote in their countries. Although it serves as a forum for discussing issues of interest to individual Member States and the EU as a whole, the European Parliament has no power to create or implement legislation. However, it has some control over the EU budget and can raise issues for consideration by the Council of Ministers or the European Commission.

4. The Court. Any economic unions should have a legal basis, the EU is no exception. The court consists of 13 judges and 6 lawyers representing EU member states. Its function is to interpret laws and regulations, the decisions made are binding on the EU, the governments of member countries, firms and individuals in EU member states.

International economic unions

- WTO / GATT. The basic agreement between 153 countries is the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT). Reduction of tariffs, elimination of barriers, unbiased tax and customs policy towards each other are the main objectives of the agreement, which was signed in 1947.

- UNCCD. The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development is a representative body of the United Nations General Assembly (United Nations), which deals with economic development, trade and investment. The main goal of the organization is to help less developed countries to integrate into the world economic market.

- NAFTA. The largest North American free trade zone between the United States, Canada and Mexico from 1994.

- ASEAN. The political and economic community of the countries of Southeast Asia, which is developing rapidly today, is represented by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. The agreement was signed by the following countries: Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore, Philippines, Brunei, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Vietnam. The objectives of ASEAN are aimed at accelerating economic growth, protecting national interests, peace and stability; The provision of the possibility by legal bodies to settle conflicts peacefully.