MOSCOW, January 25 (Sputnik) – Economists in Germany suggest that a free trade zone between the European Union and Russia could be beneficial, especially in view of the Ukrainian crisis, German media report.
President of the Committee on Eastern European Economic Relations in Germany Eckhard Cordes told NDR (North German Broadcasting) Radio that a free trade zone with the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) would make sense "from the political and economic perspective".
Meanwhile, Chief Executive of the Association of German Chambers of Industry and Commerce (DIHK) Martin Wansleben told the Passauer Neuen Presse newspaper that negotiations of a possible free trade zone between the European Union and EEU could be "a bridge" on the way to resolving the crisis in Ukraine.
Meanwhile, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Vasily Nebenzya said in an interview with RIA Novosti in December that about 40 countries and groups of states have officially declared their readiness to create a free trade zone with the union.
Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan signed a treaty to establish EEU on May 29, 2014. Armenia joined the organization on October 10, while Kyrgyzstan signed its accession treaty on December 23.
The treaty replaced the Customs Union between Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan and came into force on January 1, 2015.
EEU guarantees the free flow of goods, services, capital and labour, in addition to a coordinated energy, industrial, agricultural and transport policy among its member states. The union's ultimate objective is to establish a single economic market stretching from the European Union to China, serving over 170 million people.
