CES to be giant market with unified legislation: PM (adds).

MOSCOW, October 4 (Itar-Tass) - With the launch of the Common Economic
Space on January 1, 2012, Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan will create a
colossal market with millions of consumers with a unified legislation,
free movement of capitals, services and workforce, Russian Prime Minister
Vladimir Putin said in an article published by the Izvestia daily.
The road to that began twenty years ago, when the Commonwealth of
Independent States was set up after the collapse of the Soviet Union.
"Generally speaking the model was found that helped to save myriads of
civilizational, spiritual threads uniting our peoples. Save production,
economic and other ties without which it is impossible to imagine our
life," the prime minister noted.
"One can assess the efficiency of the CIS differently and speculate
endlessly about its internal problems, unfulfilled expectations. But it is
difficult to dispute the fact that the Commonwealth is an irreplaceable
mechanism, which makes it possible to bring closer positions and work out
a common point of view on key problems facing our regions, as well as
dispute the fact that it yields visible concrete benefit to all its
participants," the prime minister believes.
Moreover, "it was the experience of the CIS that let us launch a
multi-level and different-speed integration in the post-Soviet space,
create such called-for formats as the Union State of Russia and Belarus,
the Collective Security Treaty Organisation, the Eurasian Economic
Community, the Customs Union and finally the Common Economic Space," Putin
stressed.
Integration processes received an additional impetus during the global
financial crisis that made the countries look for new resources for an
economic growth. "We have objectively arrived at the point when we must
seriously update principles of our partnership - both in the CIS and in
other regional unions. And we have concentrated our attention first of all
on the development of trade and production ties," Putin noted.
According to him, this means in essence that integration must be
transformed into a clear and attractive for citizens and business stable
and long-term project that will not depend on changes in the current
political or any other conjuncture.
"This was the task set when EurAsEC was being set up in 2000," and "in
the long run, it is this logics of close and mutually advantageous
cooperation, understanding of commonness of strategic national interests,
that have prompted Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan to form the Customs
Union," the prime minister emphasized.
"On July 1, 2011 control over the movement of goods was removed on
inner borders of our three countries, which finished the formation of
full-value single customs territory with clear prospects for the
implementation of most ambitious business initiatives," he said.
"Now we are making a step from the Customs Union to the Common
Economic Space. We are creating a colossal market with more than 165
million consumers, with unified legislation, with a free movement of
capitals, services and workforce," he said.
"It is of fundamental importance that the Common Economic Space will
be based on coordinated actions in key institutional spheres - in
macroeconomics, in securing the rules of competition, in the sphere of
technical regulations and agricultural subsidies, transport, tariffs of
natural monopolies," he said in the article "New Integration Project for
Eurasia - Future That is Being Born Today".
"And then - also on a common visa and migration policy, which will
make it possible to remove border controls on inner boundaries," he noted.
"That is, to creatively apply the experience of Schengen agreements, that
have become a benefit not only for Europeans themselves, but for all those
who come to work, study or holiday in EU countries," he added.
"The removal of migration, border and other barriers, the so-called
labor quotas will mean for the citizens a possibility to choose without
any restrictions where to live, study and work," the Russian prime
minister stressed.
Broad possibilities open for business as well. "I am speaking about
new dynamic markets where common standards and requirements for goods and
services, in most cases unified with European ones, will be used," he
added.
"It is important, as now we all change over to modern technical
regulations, and coordinated policy will let us avoid technology gaps,
trivial incompatibility of goods," the prime minister noted.
"Moreover, each company in our states will enjoy in any CES member
country all advantages of domestic producers, including an access to
government orders and contracts," Putin stressed.