European Union vs. Eurasian Union – a brief comparative analysis and perspectives for cooperation

The Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) is considered to be the first successful regionalization attempt in the post-Soviet area. It is promoted as an economic organization whose aim is to remove trade barriers, promote integration, cooperation and economic growth in a fragmented and underdeveloped region. The promoters of this organization state that it can represent a platform for dialogue and even cooperation with the European Union, as well as with other international actors. The growing influence of the European Union in the post-Soviet space has been a critical factor in Russia’s determination to update its policy towards regional integration and from the very beginning, the European model was chosen to create the new Union.

By doing a comparison between the two regional blocs, I will contribute to a growing literature on the relationship between the European Union and the Eurasian Economic Union, by emphasizing the similarities and differences as well as how the emerging regional competition will shape the future of European relations.

In the first part of the article, I will briefly present the evolution of the integration process after the fall of the USSR, followed by a comparative analysis of the two regional integration projects, from a structural, political and economic point of view. I will conclude by analyzing the chances for any kind of breakthrough in political relations and economic cooperation between the two blocs.

The article follows a qualitative and quantitative methodology and examines the possible implications of a competition between the European Union and Eurasian economic Union.