The current intra-CIS integration model is based on interaction between states rather than markets. The integration model encounters more problems as the markets develop, which means the entire structure may collapse one day.
The CIS should draft a new agenda corresponding to present realities and proceeding from real, i.e. official or de facto, state interests as soon as possible.
Intra-CIS integration needs a new model for the market and democracy. The so-called mobilization model to manage an emergency - the collapse of the Soviet Union - has accomplished its objectives and depleted its potential. The CIS must receive a normal and full-fledged legal space, as well as a system of mechanisms for adopting and implementing collective decisions.
The CIS cannot survive without a new leadership concept either. Russia is the only country that can become the driving force of the integration process and so should assume the required political and financial commitments. Regional integration will not happen any other way. France and Germany have led integration in Europe for the past 50 years and no other model is being considered despite waves of enlargement. Russia must be the idea generator in the CIS and its leading strategist.
The CIS should chart a common strategy for developing its relations with the European Union. There is no CIS-EU framework agreement, even though the EU has already concluded numerous similar agreements with ASEAN and Mercosur. The development of bilateral relations under framework agreements will considerably enhance the positions of CIS countries in their dialogue with the EU. This will also enable them to create spheres of advanced cooperation, without either joining the EU officially or assuming the numerous commitments this would entail.
