Institutional and Legal Development of EAEU and EU in Comparative Perspective

Despite the relatively short history of its development, the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) is becoming more confident about itself as a successful integration project. At the same time, there is a growing interest in the EAEU by the political elite and scientific community in Russia and abroad. The EAEU is investigated from different points of view, but almost no research is carried out without a comparative legal analysis of the EAEU and the European Union (EU). Both unions belong to the same type of integration organizations; the EAEU was largely created in the image of the EU. However, an analysis of the institutional and legal structure of the EAEU and the EU shows there are fundamental differences between the two unions concerning the principles of their functioning. This article substantiates the fact that supranational constitutionalization within the EU is not typical for the EAEU and is even harmful. At the same time, the technical tools developed by the EU can be useful to the EAEU for resolving current challenges of ensuring sustainability and self-affirmation in the international arena. This experience is of importance in view of the crisis experienced by the EU, since only they were able to manifest what institutional and legal decisions are working within the framework of an integration association, and which should be discarded. It is vital that the EAEU not repeat the mistakes and miscalculations of the EU.Despite the relatively short history of its development, the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) is becoming more confident about itself as a successful integration project. At the same time, there is a growing interest in the EAEU by the political elite and scientific community in Russia and abroad. The EAEU is investigated from different points of view, but almost no research is carried out without a comparative legal analysis of the EAEU and the European Union (EU). Both unions belong to the same type of integration organizations; the EAEU was largely created in the image of the EU. However, an analysis of the institutional and legal structure of the EAEU and the EU shows there are fundamental differences between the two unions concerning the principles of their functioning. This article substantiates the fact that supranational constitutionalization within the EU is not typical for the EAEU and is even harmful. At the same time, the technical tools developed by the EU can be useful to the EAEU for resolving current challenges of ensuring sustainability and self-affirmation in the international arena. This experience is of importance in view of the crisis experienced by the EU, since only they were able to manifest what institutional and legal decisions are working within the framework of an integration association, and which should be discarded. It is vital that the EAEU not repeat the mistakes and miscalculations of the EU

INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS PROTECTION AND REGIONAL INTEGRATION: EUROPEAN AND EURASIAN INTEGRATION PROCESSES COMPARED

This paper seeks to analyze some contemporary issues relating to the determination of a place of human rights protection within the integration processes in Europe and Eurasia. First, it briefly presents relevant developments regarding integration in Europe based on the examples of the Council of Europe and the European Union. Second, it proposes an analytical framework for the assessment of the protection of human rights within Eurasian integration, namely in the post-Soviet space. This assessment is carried out through the prism of existing inter-state arrangements, namely within the framework of such entities as the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) and the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU). Third, the paper attempts to identify on-going problems and legal challenges concerning the protection of human rights by regional integration organizations in Europe and Eurasia and suggests some solutions to these challenges

NEW TRADE AND ECONOMIC REGIONALISM: A SPACE OF OPPORTUNITIES IN GREATER EURASIA

The article is devoted to the issues of trade and economic integration in the Greater Eurasia region. The trends of regionalization in the Asia-Pacific region based on multilateral trade deals are studied. The analysis of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement, the prerequisites for its conclusion, and the effects of implementation has been carried out. These issues were considered in conjunction with the implementation of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership, including considering the current prerequisites for its expansion. The authors investigate the issues of conjugation of the EAEU and integration processes in the Asia-Pacific region within the framework of the idea of the Greater Eurasian Partnership. Specific proposals for the organization of work, based on the mechanisms for implementing the EAEU’s international legal personality, have been formulated. An overview of the possible results of the conclusion of the Agreement in Greater Eurasia in the economic and geopolitical context is presented

SMAP Soil Moisture Change as an Indicator of Drought Conditions

Soil moisture is considered a key variable in drought analysis. The soil moisture dynamics given by the change in soil moisture between two time periods can provide information on the intensification or improvement of drought conditions. The aim of this work is to analyze how the soil moisture dynamics respond to changes in drought conditions over multiple time intervals. The change in soil moisture estimated from the Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) satellite observations was compared with the United States Drought Monitor (USDM) and the Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI) over the contiguous United States (CONUS). The results indicated that the soil moisture change over 13-week and 26-week intervals is able to capture the changes in drought intensity levels in the USDM, and the change over a four-week interval correlated well with the one-month SPI values. This suggested that a short-term negative soil moisture change may indicate a lack of precipitation, whereas a persistent long-term negative soil moisture change may indicate severe drought conditions. The results further indicate that the inclusion of soil moisture change will add more value to the existing drought-monitoring products

On the Use of NASA Earth Observations to Characterize the 2012 US Drought

As the harvest season approached in August 2012, much of the United States remained in the grip of a major drought. According to the United States Drought Monitor (USDM), 52 percent of the United States and Puerto Rico was in moderate drought conditions or worse by August 7, 2012 (see Figure 1a). Drought areas were concentrated in the agricultural states in the central U.S.A. The drought threatened global food prices and US biofuel feedstocks. Although areas east of the Mississippi River experienced some relief due to Hurricane Isaac, the drought persisted west of the Mississippi River Basin. The USDA Economic Research Service reports about 80 percent of the US agriculture experienced drought in 2012 making it the most extensive drought since the 1950's. The Financial Times reported 2012 losses at roughly $30 billion dollars. NASA maintains satellite and modelling capabilities that enable the assessment of drought severity and extent on a national and global basis

Analyzing European Union Politics

The speed and depth with which the European Communities/ European Union has evolved is breathtaking and has radically shaped the life of the continent. Ever since the beginning of this ambitious economic and political project, scholars around the world have tried to explain the underlying logic behind it and the mechanisms of its functioning. Thus, a plethora of studies developed alongside the evolution of the EU. SENT (Network of European Studies) is an innovative and ambitious project which brought together about 100 partners from the EU member states, candidate and associated countries, and other parts of the world. It was a far reaching project aimed to overcome disciplinary and geographical- linguistic boundaries in order to assess the state of EU studies today, as well as the idea of Europe as transmitted by schools, national politicians, the media, etc. SENT’s main goal was to map European studies, in order to get a comprehensive picture of the evolution of European studies over the last decades in different disciplines and countries. This approach permitted to achieve a better understanding of the direction these studies are now taking. Five disciplines were identified where EU studies have particularly evolved: law, politics, economics, history, and social and cultural studies. The mapping of EU studies thus includes a review of the most studied issues in EU studies today, the main academic schools, the most influential journals and books published, but it also shows how local realities and national identities affect the study and teaching of Europe around the world. In addition, an important work was done in mapping and discussing teaching methodologies in relation to European studies with the aim of introducing and diffusing the most up-to-date techniques

On the use of repeat leveling for the determination of vertical land motion: artifacts, aliasing and extrapolation errors

Leveling remains the most precise technique for measuring changes in heights. However, for the purposes of determining vertical land motion (VLM), a time series of repeat leveling measurements is susceptible to artifacts and aliasing that may arise due to systematic errors, seasonal surface fluctuations, motions occurring during a survey, and any inconsistencies in the observation conditions among epochs. Using measurements from 10 repeat leveling surveys conducted twice yearly along a profile spanning ~40 km across the Perth Basin, Western Australia, we describe the observation, processing, and analysis methods required to mitigate these potential error sources. We also demonstrate how these issues may lead to misinterpretation of the VLM derived from repeat leveling and may contribute to discrepancies between geologically inferred rates of ground motion or those derived from other geodetic measurement techniques. Finally, we employ historical (~40‐year‐old) leveling data in order to highlight the errors that can arise when attempting to extrapolate VLM derived from a geodetic time series, particularly in cases where the long‐term motion may be nonlinear

INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS PROTECTION AND REGIONAL INTEGRATION: EUROPEAN AND EURASIAN INTEGRATION PROCESSES COMPARED

This paper seeks to analyze some contemporary issues relating to the determination of a place of human rights protection within the integration processes in Europe and Eurasia. First, it briefly presents relevant developments regarding..

The Cornerstones of the Post-World War II and the Contemporary International Law: the View from Moscow and Beijing

The starting point for a lot of legal and political science publications concerning global issues appeared lately in the USA and countries of the EU is that China and Russia are renegade powers trying to undermine existing postmodern world economic and political order. Some authors in other regions, even in Russia, follow such an erroneous approach. In real life the situation is entirely different. The world order that emerged after the end of World War II was created with China and Russia participation. They made a major contribution to its establishment. It suits their interests. The main pillars of this world order are sovereign equality of states, noninterference in their internal matters, international cooperation and the prohibition to use force. After the dissolution of the USSR so called western democratic nations made their best to change that and acquire the legal right to use different types of force unilaterally and to interfere in internal life of other states on different grounds, proclaiming that postmodern developments changed the essence of the notion of sovereignty. They pretend that they succeeded to do this and persuade others. It is not true. They failed. Russia and China managed to preserve the core values of the post-World War II order. They stick to modern international law and are its most important protectors and promoters. All their recent global political, nonproliferation and economic initiatives are the prove of it

The EU-Russia Review: Issue two. A report commissioned by the EU-Russsia Centre, November 2006. Egmont European Affairs Publication, 2006

This second issue of the EU-Russia Centre Review is devoted to the future of EU-Russia relations. There is hardly a more important subject for the EU than the relationship with its large neighbour and the important policy areas that include political and security cooperation, trade and economic affairs, energy, justice and home affairs, education, culture, science and technology. It is no secret that both the EU and Russia have been disappointed with progress under previous agreements. Both the 1997 Partnership and Cooperation Agreement (PCA) and the 1999 strategic partnership have failed to live up to expectations. In the negotiations which the EU hopes to start with Russia early next year, there is an opportunity both for stocktaking and to move forward into a broader framework for a deeper partnership. But what type of agreement should replace the PCA and what are the implications? This is the theme of the article by Sami Andoura and Marius Vahl who consider a number of options including abandoning the PCA, extending it or replacing it with a new type of agreement. In discussing the alternatives the authors examine the legal basis for any accord and their analysis quickly reveals the complexity of the issue of the treaty article on which the EU should base the new agreement. They conclude that the perennial question of the competence of the EU and its member states inevitably arises as the EU is likely to seek a comprehensive, mixed, multi-pillar agreement that will require ratification by all 25, (soon 27) member states and the European Parliament. Katinka Barysch touches on the prospects for the common economic space. She also argues that progress in EU-Russia relations has been frustratingly slow and outlines the thinking behind the move towards establishing the common economic space. Initially, a working group report led to the adoption of the four common spaces at the 2003 St Petersburg EU-Russia summit. Then further road maps were developed and endorsed by the 2005 Moscow summit The author notes the limited achievements in the field of regulatory convergence, but insists that this is a key point for future cooperation. She also argues that a common economic space could help Russia diversify away from its current over-dependence on oil and gas in its economic structure. She reaches the conclusion that the problem is that the EU has limited means to influence Moscow to move in this direction and Moscow has no say in the formulation of EU rules and regulations. Russian perspectives on the future of EU-Russia relations are reviewed by Nadia Arbatova. She argues that the relationship is at a crossroads, and there are two possibilities - each going their own way or coming together to seek a partnership of equals. Russia is still searching for its true identity, while the EU itself is suffering an identity crisis as a result of difficulties with the constitutional treaty. Nevertheless, the author is confident that there will be a new extended treaty, as this possibility is supported by the Kremlin, leading ministries and business. The birth of a new strategic partnership between the EU and Russia could help lead towards a more open and transparent Russia. Arkady Moshes takes stock of the cooperation between the EU and Russia in foreign and security policy. He argues that, while it may look good on paper, the reality is different, with very little practical cooperation between the two sides. The author attributes this to a number of reasons including the lack of consensus within the foreign policy elite in Moscow, the impact of EU enlargement, differences over the shared neighbourhood and doubts about the EU as a cohesive actor. Moshes argues that the list of shared foreign and security policy interests between the EU and Russia is very long and if the internal problems on both sides could be overcome then cooperation could grow quickly. However, based on present trends this area is unlikely to be at the forefront of the relationship. Andrew Monaghan covers a rapidly growing priority area in the relationship, namely energy. He details the concern in the EU after Russia’s behaviour towards Ukraine in January 2006 and the veiled threats that Russia could easily divert its oil and gas supplies to Asia. The author argues that Russia is unlikely to try and blackmail the EU as it needs Europe for finance and technology to renew its outdated infrastructure. Asia is not, he believes an alternative to Europe, given the lack of pipelines to Asia and concerns about China. Prospects for closer EU-Russia energy cooperation are fairly good but several problems must be tackled, including Russian accession to, or observance of, the Energy Charter, more transparency in both cases and measures to ensure the sustainability of Russian gas supplies. Above all, he states, the EU needs to establish an internal energy policy if it wants to pursue a coherent external energy policy. Mark Entin reviews the rather limited cooperation between the EU and Russia in the fields of education, culture, science, research and technology. Both appear to be aware of existing problems and several working groups and commissions have been established to consider ways to expand cooperation. One of the main problem areas is the non-recognition of Russian degrees in the EU. Another issue hindering contact and progress, is the dismal lack of EU students studying Russia. But the author concludes on an optimistic note, believing that the potential in these areas is very high. Olga Potemkina assesses cooperation in the sensitive areas of justice and home affairs. She notes that this is a rapidly growing area of interaction even though this is not a priority in the current PCA. She discusses the prospects for visa-free travel between the EU and Russia and notes that both sides have a vital interest in tackling issues such as terrorism, drugs, human trafficking, etc., together. The author also notes the inherent problems of the Russian judicial system, still struggling to reform itself into a genuine independent structure. Finally, Marie Mendras argues that President Putin's Russia is authoritarian and clannish, controlled by powerful elite groups with little real interest in promoting a more open relationship with neighbouring Europe. She believes that the EU's inability to forge a common foreign policy towards Russia hinders progress still further and is a result of its lack of commitment, energy and invention. Older member states are criticised as reluctant to provoke the Putin administration, and this lack of any real engagement makes it easier for Russia to hide behind a curtain of isolationist rhetoric, designed mainly for home consumption. Any fresh impetus will have to come from the new, more outspoken and critical, EU members who are not afraid to bring issues to the table. The collection of articles in this Review provides a comprehensive overview of the state of EU-Russia relations on the eve of momentous negotiations to replace the PCA. They are all tinged with a healthy dose of reality, pointing to the opportunities to develop a new and genuine strategic partnership – if the necessary political will is there on both sides. It is to be hoped that our political leaders seize the opportunity