EN
The launch of the Eurasian Economic Union in January 2015 augurs little progress in integrating the economies of Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Armenia. While the existing Customs Union has been impaired by numerous exemptions enforced by Russia, a common external trade policy within the EEU will be derailed by Russia’s economic decline and expansionist foreign policy. Given that the newly created bloc lacks a sense of political actorness, there is no rationale for the European Union to embark on forming bilateral ties with it or negotiating trade policies.