The Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) is an international organization for regional economic integration, established as an economic union of five post-Soviet states: Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Russia. It is an institution created by the Treaty on the Eurasian Economic Union, which was signed on May 29, 2014, and entered into force on January 1, 2015. The EAEU's origin traces back to the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 and the subsequent pursuit of integration projects, with the immediate predecessor being the Customs Union of Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Russia, which began in January 2010. The primary purpose was to foster economic cooperation, create a common market, and serve as a counterbalance to Western economic blocs.
The EAEU functions by ensuring the free movement of goods, services, capital, and labor among its member states, and by pursuing coordinated, harmonized, and single policies in various economic sectors. A key mechanism is the elimination of intra-bloc tariffs and the establishment of a common external tariff policy. The governing bodies include the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council (Heads of State), the Eurasian Intergovernmental Council (Heads of Government), the permanent supranational regulatory body called the Eurasian Economic Commission (headquartered in Moscow), and the Court of the EAEU (located in Minsk).
The EAEU is often connected to the concept of a "Greater Eurasian Partnership," which was proposed to include countries like China, India, Pakistan, and Iran. The EAEU has signed free trade agreements with countries like Vietnam, Singapore, and Serbia, and is currently working on a free trade agreement with India. A recent change involves amendments to the EAEU Customs Code to regulate foreign e-commerce, which may come into force on January 1, 2027, and will designate e-commerce goods as a separate category with a uniform customs duty rate. Additionally, the EAEU adopted a development strategy through 2025 to advance objectives like completing the formation of a common market and digitizing trade processes.