The Eurasian Economic Union, Russia’s Integration Policy and the EU Challenge

In the wake of globalisation, governments have started to see relative advantage in associating with other countries, and also possible negative consequences in staying outside preferential trade arrangements. Many times a decision to join an economic organisation is made because staying outside will be with time more costly. It can be assumed that countries that rely to a very high extent on special export sectors or export partners are hit relatively harder when they are forced to stay outside a free trade area or a customs union. For the exporter, this is because it might be difficult to find alternative markets to sell to or to restructure the country’s export composition. Such countries are also very vulnerable to economic blackmailing because sanctions can be addressed to small but crucial sectors.1