EAEU INTRODUCES WARNINGS AND ADMONITIONS

The relevant amendments will be made to the Treaty on the Eurasian Economic Union

At a session of the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council (SEEC) on 30 September 2019 in Yerevan, Heads of the member-stats of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) signed the Protocol on Amendments to the Treaty on the Eurasian Economic Union on 29 May 2014. The changes concern competition and antimonopoly regulation.

Several amendments are put to the Protocol on common principles and competition rules, which is an integral element of the EAEU Treaty. These amendments are designed to improve the legal framework for the efforts of the Eurasian Economic Commission to control compliance with the common competition rules on EAEU markets.

The Commission powers include, for example:

- Issuing warnings that actions which may breach common competition rules are unacceptable;

- Issuing warnings to stop actions (omissions) that have elements of violating common competition rules, eliminating causes and conditions conducive to elements of violations and undertake measures to eliminate such consequences.

As stated by Deputy Head of FAS Andrey Tsarikovskiy, who took part in SSEC, “in Russian antimonopoly law, warnings and admonitions have been long used and this tool of “soft law” has proved to be successful in practice.  Introducing these norms in the EAEU law means another step to harmonize legislation and it is aimed at creating opportunities for faster and less costly and painful elimination of violations of the competition rules and its consequences on the cross-border markets. FAS has been actively involved in drafting such amendments to EAEU Treaty. We are satisfied with the outcome of our joint efforts”.

At SSEC on 1 October 2019, the first agreements from the package of the comprehensive trade arrangements between the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) and the Republic of Singapore were signed. The documents were signed by President of the Collegium of the Eurasian Economic Commission (EEC) Tigran Sarkisyan, Vice-Premiers of the Union member-states, and a Senior Minister, Coordinating Minister for Social and Economic Policies, Singapore, Tharman Shanmugaratnam.

Under the Free Trade Agreement, Singapore shall provide free access for EAEU goods on its market, while the Eurasian Economic Union obligates to grant duty-free access to Singapore goods.

Apart from tariff obligations, the Agreement establishes legal guarantees for fulfillment of the basic principles of non-discriminating the goods of the Union member-states with regard to the goods made in Singapore (equality between aliens and nationals) and imported to Singapore from third countries, with which there is no free trade (the most favorite nation treatment), in everything that concerns foreign trade activity, import and commercial turnover.

Deputy Head of FAS Andrey Tsyganov commented: “including competition provisions in trade-and economic agreements, such as free trade agreements, are necessary to prevent and exclude anticompetitive practices, increase the transparency level of trading procedures and support fair competition rules.  The Agreement between EAEU and Singapore formalizes common principles of competition protection and simplifies the conditions for access of the parties’ goods to the each other’s markets”.