Customs Union PMs to discuss draft document on new stage of integration
MOSCOW. Oct 19 (Interfax) - A draft declaration regarding the formation of the Eurasian economic union will be considered by the Customs Union heads of government in St. Petersburg on October 19.
The Russian, Belarusian and Kazakh presidents are expected to sign it in December, a source from the Russian government said.
"We are hoping that the text of the document will be agreed on by the heads of government in St. Petersburg on Wednesday and will be signed by the presidents in December this year. The document will set the action algorithm for the three states over the next few years," the source said.
The Eurasian economic union must become a new stage in the integration of Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan, which have already set up the Customs Union and are due to launch the Common Economic Space (CES) as of January 1, 2012.
The first stage in the creation of the Eurasian union will be codification of the whole regulatory framework of the CES, the source said.
In future, the three states will discuss the monetary policy, transition to a single visa and migration policy and lifting the internal border control, the government official said.
"Currently, we are not discussing it in practical terms, but strategically we must think about it," the Russian government official said.
Today "the talks are focusing neither on the creation of the monetary union, nor introduction of a single currency," the source said. "The time has not come for it yet. It should be demanded by the economies. The talk is about how we can avoid causing damage to our partners. For example, if someone suddenly decides to devaluate their currency by 100% to conquer the neighbor's market, they should not have the possibilities to do so," the source said.
At the same time, the Customs Union has already decided to create a supranational financial regulator around 2015, he recalled.
"We have already agreed that the financial regulator will be based in Almaty. It does not supersede the existing national financial regulators, but financial matters at the level of the Customs Union will be dealt with by the supranational body," the source said.