What is Eurasian Economic Union - and will Serbia adopt another currency before it adopts euro?

Just as we dipped the pen into the ink to sign a trade agreement with the EAEU, a message came from the EU that we will have to abandon it when we join the European bloc.

"Serbia will have to terminate its new free trade agreement with the Eurasian Economic Union when it joins the European Union," the European Commission said.

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Until then - we are free to enter into agreements with other countries or organizations before joining the European Union.

The EC explained to Serbia its obligations, EUobserver said in an article, reporting this news a day after Russian Ambassador in Belgrade Aleksandr Botsan-Kharchenko announced that Serbia would sign a trade agreement with the Eurasian Economic Union on October 25.

And here's what the agreement is about and what the EAEU actually is.

The Eurasian Economic Union's delegation consists of Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Armenia and Kyrgyzstan. Currently, they are negotiating accession with Singapore, Israel, Egypt and Serbia.

By signing the deal in October, we would gain open access to a market of 180 million people, while the list of goods would be expanded, along with increased quantities that our country would be able to export to that market.

Photo: Pixabay

Serbia will be able to export almost 100 percent, or 99.5 percent of products without paying customs fees, above all goat and cow milk cheeses in unlimited quantities, all kinds of fruits and plum brandy also in unlimited quantities, 2,000 tons of cigarettes, 400 tons of a certain type of cow's milk cheese, and 90,000 liters vinjak (brandy made from grapes).

Estimates are that we may also be able to "push through" some products manufactured in the steel mill, and from the mining industry.

This was under negotiations for three years because duty-free import of certain products upset some member states who wanted to protect their markets - thus vinjak bothered Armenia, while Belarus and Kazakhstan didn't like the idea of cheese and Fiat cars assembled in Serbia.

Five months ago, ministers agreed on the text of the agreement. The next stage is ratification.

Russian President Vladimir Putin himself has reiterated several times that he expects the Eurasian Economic Union's negotiations with Serbia to be completed.

In this context, he also announced the idea of ​​creating a common payment infrastructure, which he estimated would improve the stability of national payment systems in EAEU member countries, allowing them to be less dependent on the dollar and other foreign currencies.

Putin first introduced the idea of ​​forming the Eurasian Union in 2011.

Addressing criticism that he was trying to revive the Soviet Union, Putin said the Eurasian Union would be built on the experiences of the European Union and other regional coalitions.

However, the EU and Putin's community differ on coordination and political cooperation. Each of the member states pursues its own foreign policy, which are sometimes at odds, especially when it comes to relations with Brussels and Beijing.

This became especially evident after the West imposed sanctions on Russia, which Serbia has not joined.

After this, European officials repeatedly said, as they are saying now, that if it becomes a member of the bloc, Serbia will have to coordinate its foreign policy with the European Union.

Either way, according to earlier estimates by economists, the agreement with the EAEU would have a dramatic effect on our economy if the business community has the capacity to increase production and increase exports.

(Telegraf Biznis)