The Eurasian Economic Union Member States identified the mechanism of a common position in negotiations with third countries

Addressing the participants of the meeting, the Prime Minister of the Republic of Belarus Andrey Kobyakov noted that in a number of areas in the existing complex circumstances, the Eurasian Economic Union Member States have managed either to achieve certain positive results, or to move forward to a large extent to the strategic objectives of the functioning of the Union enshrined in the Treaty of the Eurasian Economic Union from May 29, 2014. "Together with our partners of the Eurasian Union, we are making considerable efforts to enter foreign markets, strive to position the EAEU in the international arena as a successful and stable integration association," said the Prime Minister of the Republic of Belarus.
At that Andrey Kobyakov noted problems in the Eurasian Economic Union. He proposed to accelerate the removal of barriers to access to the markets of the Member States.
The Chairman of the Eurasian Intergovernmental Council, the Prime Minister of the Republic of Kazakhstan Bakytzhan Sagintayev focused on matters of international cooperation of the Eurasian Economic Union. In particular, on October 5, the agreement on free trade zone (FTZ) with Vietnam entered into force; we are still working with Israel, Iran, and Korea; much has been done to develop cooperation with China.
As reported by Bakytzhan Sagintayev, the key question which was discussed at the meeting is the removal of discrepancies on the Customs Code of the Eurasian Economic Union. According to the Prime Minister of Kazakhstan, half of the existing discrepancies were resolved during the negotiations. The heads of governments of the EAEU countries agreed to meet in November in Moscow to negotiate the outstanding issues on the draft Customs Code of the EAEU. "We really hope that the work will be completed in November and at the end of December the heads of the states will complete their study of the common Customs Code," said Bakytzhan Sagintayev.
The Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia Karen Karapetyan thanked the Belarusian side for its hospitality and excellent organization of the meeting.
The Acting Prime Minister of the Kyrgyz Republic Sooronbay Zheenbekov congratulated his fellow heads of governments of Armenia and Kazakhstan with their new high appointments and wished success with the responsible office.
The Chairman of the Government of the Russian Federation Dmitry Medvedev in his speech stressed that "the Eurasian Union is still confidently developing”. "Despite the adverse economic conditions, the share of mutual trade is growing and has reached 14.2 % of the total volume. And even a couple of years ago it was about 11%. And it's still moving forward, and not backwards. In some areas we move quickly, in others more slowly, but it is obvious that there is progress," said the head of the Government of the Russian Federation.
In turn, the EEC Board Chairman Tigran Sargsyan reported that principal decisions were taken on the issue of improving the effectiveness of the EEC work. He noted that it is about how the countries of the Union will operate during the negotiations with third countries and economic associations. The heads of governments have given their relevant instructions, assigned responsible persons from countries that will participate in the negotiation process. Also a number of issues, on which they will be authorized to make decisions during negotiations, were identified. "This will allow the EEC Board to create an effective platform for the development of the common position and then use this economic track, which, at the initiative of Kazakhstan President Nursultan Nazarbayev, is the main activity for us this year to ensure the breakthrough," said Tigran Sargsyan.
The Chairman of the EEC Board also noted that the principle decision of the heads of government of the Union countries to introduce legislation at the level of the EEC was reached. "If there are no disagreements and all parties agree with the documents, the new regime for decision-making will be introduced, which will also improve the efficiency of our operations," said Tigran Sargsyan.
The meeting of the Intergovernmental Council was attended by the heads of governments of the EAEU countries: the Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia Karen Karapetyan, the Prime Minister of the Republic of Belarus Andrey Kobyakov, the Prime Minister of the Republic of Kazakhstan Bakytzhan Sagintayev, the Acting Prime Minister of the Kyrgyz Republic, Sooronbay Zheenbekov, the Prime Minister of the Russian Federation Dmitry Medvedev, and Chairman of the Board of the Eurasian Economic Commission Tigran Sargsyan.
Press-release at the official Eurasian Economic Commission web-site