Challenges and Opportunities  of Economic Integration  within a wider European and Eurasian Space Elena Rovenskaya Acting Program Director Advanced Systems Analysis Program IIASA

Motivation Rising interest towards regional integration in various new forms and depth of world-wide international economic policies during the last few decades Further enlargement of the EU and development of the EU Eastern Partnership (EaP) initiative Establishment of the Customs Union of Russia, Belarus, and Kazakhstan (RBK-CU) and its subsequent evolution into the Single Economic Space (SES) and the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) Need for independent interdisciplinary holistic assessment of costs and benefits of various integration scenarios!

Project Goal To discuss and analyze critical issues of economic cooperation between the enlarged EU, RBK-CU/SES and their neighbors including the key Asian players, such as China, Korea and Japan Key dimensions: trade, energy, electricity market, transport, investment, labor movement, non-tariff barriers etc.

Pilot Phase Aim: build community and set up the agenda for larger research project Timeframe: 2013 – 2014 Format: Series of round table discussions Follow up materials: reports, policy notes, white papers, position papers etc. Funding: Eurasian Development Bank Eurasian Economic Commission Involvement of key institutions: DG Trade, European Commission Presidential Administration of Russian Federation

Pilot Phase Key research partners: Aleksanteri Institute, University of Helsinki, Finland Centre for Integration Studies, Eurasian Development Bank, Russia   Institute for Economies in Transition, Bank of Finland, Finland Institute for Economic Forecasting, Russian Academy of Sciences, Russia Institute of Economics and Forecasting, National Academy of Sciences, Ukraine  Research Center, Institute for Privatization and Management (IPM), Belarus Scientific Center for Eurasian Integration, Russia The Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies (wiiw), Austria Broader involvement of researchers, experts and decision makers from interested countries, notably IIASA’s NMO countries, is needed!

Round tables WS1: Methodology for assessing regional economic integration March 2014 WS2: Trade policy regimes July 2014 WS3: Cooperation in education & research WS4: Technical standards, regulations & non-tariff barriers WS5: Transport infrastructures WS6: Energy markets and common electric power market WS7: Labour market, acknowledgement of professional qualifications & migration WS8: Investment protection and intellectual property rights WS9: Prospects for Greater Eurasia from Atlantic to Pacific

More information: www. iiasa. ac More information: www.iiasa.ac.at/web/home/research/EconomicIntegration.html Contact: Elena Rovenskaya rovenska@iiasa.ac.at