OVERCOMING FISCAL BARRIERS: SOME LESSONS FOR THE EURASIAN ECONOMIC UNION

Abstract

This article seeks to describe and evaluate the current state of fiscal barriers in the framework of legal obstacles to the international trade, their forms and kinds, as well as to reveal legal instruments used to overcome the barriers, which have been developed by national and international practice, as a valuable experience for the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU). The author consistently addresses the legal framework of the WTO, the European Union, the EEU and international tax agreements, and examines the law enforcement practice of international and national bodies on the issue under consideration. The results of the research made it possible to conclude that in international practice there are at least four concepts of ‘fiscal barriers’ depending on the applicable legal framework, as well as rights and freedoms, the provision of which is declared as an important task of an international organization (integration body). Depending on the concept of fiscal barrier, legal means to overcome them are also distinguished. At the same time, there is a mixture of several concepts of fiscal barriers and, accordingly, legal means of overcoming them, in the legal base of the EEU which can complicate their practical implementation. Considering the influence of the WTO and European Union law on the developing legal base of the EEU, the author highlights the questions and potential problems that should be in focus of the latter in order to perceive the best practices of the former. Also, the work notes the sore points of the EEU legal base, which make it difficult to effectively achieve the aims of economic integration. The article provides the first attempt to give a comprehensive analysis of fiscal barriers and to identify mechanisms to overcome them in the sphere of the post-Soviet economic integration.