MINSK, 25 April (BelTA) – There are no prerequisites for creating a common currency in the Eurasian Economic Union for now. Member of the Board (Minister) for Economy and Financial Policy of the Eurasian Economic Commission Timur Suleimenov made the statement during the 13th Eurasian Media Forum, the Commission's press service told BelTA.
Timur Suleimenov said he believes that integration decisions are necessary only if they really benefit all the countries of the Eurasian Economic Union. He reminded that the Eurasian Economic Union Treaty provides only for coordinating the currency policy through the coordinating council made of the central banks of the member states.
In his speech during the panel session on the future of the European Union and the diminishing competitive ability of Europe, Timur Suleimenov mentioned possible spheres of cooperation of the Eurasian Economic Union and the European Union.
The official said that tighter interaction between existing integration associations comes to the forefront in conditions of slow world economy growth and falling output, consumption, and investment figures. “For the evolving Eurasian Economic Union tight cooperation with the European Union is extremely important since the European Union remains a major trade partner of our member states. In some spheres this cooperation could be beneficial without involving politics. Those are, for instance, technical regulations, sanitary and phytosanitary measures, the exchange of the best practices of financial policy harmonization,” said Timur Suleimenov.
Speaking about economic situation in Europe, the Minister noted that some of the problems are not related to fundamental values but excessive red-tape practices and additional regulatory barriers at the supranational level. The Eurasian Economic Union follows the example of the European Union in many things while trying to avoid errors.
Speaking about migration affairs of the Eurasian Economic Union, Timur Suleimenov noted that easier working conditions for migrants, who are citizens of the Union's member states, represent a direct benefit of integration. “We know how much it has made easier the lives of hundreds of thousands of the citizens of our integration association who work in Kazakhstan and Russia,” stated the official.
The Eurasian Economic Commission is a permanent supranational regulatory body of the Eurasian Economic Union that went operational on 2 February 2012. At present the Commission comprises representatives of five countries: Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Russia. The Commission's decisions are binding in the Eurasian Economic Union member states.
