is an economic and political integration project of three member-states of the Customs Union: Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan.
The goal of establishing the CES is to create conditions for the stable and efficient development of the member-states’ economies and to raise their peoples’ living standards. Its primary principle is ensuring the free movement of goods, services, capital and workers across the member-states’ borders.
The CES is formed gradually by increasing its integration. The areas of integration and measures to implement them are determined on the basis of corresponding international agreements and decisions by CES bodies. The CES’ formation and activity are in line with the rules and standards of the WTO.
The presidents of Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan signed the Agreement on the Formation of a Common Economic Space and approved the CES Formation Concept on September 19, 2003 at a summit in Yalta.
A decision was made in June 2006 that further work in shaping the Customs Union would be based on the Eurasian Economic Community, since the goals and objectives of the EurAsEC and the CES are identical: to create a common market and a common economic space.
On December 19, 2009, the EurAsEC Interstate Council at the heads-of-state level approved a plan of action to create the Common Economic Space between Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan. At the end of 2010, 17 agreements were signed forming the legal framework of the CES. The basic documents on creating the CES came into force on January 1, 2012.
Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan have established the Eurasian Economic Commission, a supranational body for integration management, with the aim of ensuring the function and development of the Customs Union and Common Economic Space.