Accession of the Kyrgyz Republic to the EAEU

The Working Group on the Accession of the Kyrgyz Republic to the Customs Union was created in accordance with Decision No. 570 of the EurAsEC Interstate Council dated October 19, 2011.

The first meeting of the Working Group took place on May 12, 2012, the second on June 13, 2012, the third on August 10, 2012, and the fourth on November 12, 2012.

The preparation of a draft action plan (road map) on the accession of the Kyrgyz Republic to the Customs Union of the Republic of Belarus, the Republic of Kazakhstan, and the Russian Federation was launched in pursuance of Decision No. 82 of the Eurasian Economic Commission's Council dated October 12, 2012. Proposals for the draft road map were presented at the fifth meeting of the Working Group on March 27-30, 2013. On May 31, 2013, V.B. Khristenko, Chairman of the EEC Board, and D.K. Otorbaev, First Vice Prime Minister of the Kyrgyz Republic, signed the Memorandum on Deepening Cooperation between the Eurasian Economic Commission and the Kyrgyz Republic in Minsk. In accordance with the Memorandum, the Kyrgyz side gained the right to participate in the meetings of the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council, as well as the Council and the Board of the Eurasian Economic Commission and the Representative of the Kyrgyz Republic to the Eurasian Economic Commission was appointed.

The sixth meeting of the Working Group took place in Moscow on June 6, 2013. During the event, the sides heard each other's positions regarding the draft road map and determined directions for future work on the document.

The seventh meeting of the Working Group on the Accession of the Kyrgyz Republic to the Customs Union took place in Moscow on August 15, 2013. The meeting reviewed the draft road map for the accession of the Kyrgyz Republic to the Customs Union of the Republic of Belarus, the Republic of Kazakhstan, and the Russian Federation.

The eighth meeting of the Working Group took place in Minsk on October 23, 2013. The meeting largely approved the draft road map.

By Decision No. 72 of the Eurasian Economic Commission's Council dated November 19, 2013, the draft road map was recommended for approval at the level of the Heads of States. The meeting of the Eurasian Economic Commission's Council also took place with the participation of the representatives of the Kyrgyz side.

On March 3, 2014, the Eurasian Economic Commission received the comments and suggestions of the Kyrgyz side on the text of the draft road map reviewed by the Board and the Council of the Eurasian Economic Commission in November 2013. Based on the results of considering these comments, the sides bridged the gap between their positions on all paragraphs of the draft road map at the ninth meeting of the Working Group held in Bishkek on April 3, 2014.

The final version of the draft road map was fully agreed upon at the 10th meeting of the Working Group held in Moscow on May 12, 2014.

The action plan (road map) on the accession of the Kyrgyz Republic to the Customs Union of the Republic of Belarus, the Republic of Kazakhstan, and the Russian Federation was approved at the meeting of the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council at the level of the Heads of States held in Astana on May 29, 2014. Decision No. 74 of the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council dated May 29, 2014, and the Statement of the Heads of the Republic of Belarus, the Republic of Kazakhstan, and the Russian Federation were adopted to that effect. Moreover, the Statement of the Heads of States supported the intention of the Kyrgyz Republic to accede to the Common Economic Space of the Republic of Belarus, the Republic of Kazakhstan, and the Russian Federation and to become a full member of the Eurasian Economic Union.

The road map stipulates, first, the harmonization of the national legislation of the Kyrgyz Republic with the CU legal framework and, second, the alignment of the customs infrastructure facilities of the Kyrgyz Republic with the CU requirements.

In June 2014, the work on the accession of the Kyrgyz Republic to the common economic space of the Republic of Belarus, the Republic of Kazakhstan, and the Russian Federation was started in furtherance of the Presidents' Joint Statement dated May 29, 2014, taking into account the formation of the Eurasian Economic Union.

By Decision No. 42 of the Eurasian Economic Commission's Council dated June 23, 2014, the previous working group was transformed into a working group on the accession of the Kyrgyz Republic to the Customs Union and the common economic space of the Republic of Belarus, the Republic of Kazakhstan, and the Russian Federation, taking into account the formation of the Eurasian Economic Union, and the composition of the working group was updated and extended.

In addition, on June 23, 2014, the Council of the Eurasian Economic Commission gave the instruction to the working group to prepare an action plan (road map) on the accession of the Kyrgyz Republic to the common economic space of the Republic of Belarus, the Republic of Kazakhstan, and the Russian Federation, taking into account the formation of the Eurasian Economic Union.

The draft road map prepared by the Eurasian Economic Commission in late June 2014 was reviewed and finalized in July - August 2014 by the working group (on July 7, 2014, at the 11th meeting held in Moscow and on August 11, 2014, at the 12th meeting held in Bishkek). Based on the results of the 13th­ meeting of the working group held in Moscow on August 25, 2014, it was understood that all paragraphs of the road map were largely agreed upon.

The road map was approved at the meeting of the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council at the level of the Heads of States held in Minsk on October 10, 2014. Decision No. 75 and the Statement of the Heads of the Republic of Belarus, the Republic of Kazakhstan, and the Russian Federation were adopted to that effect.

Moreover, the Statement dated October 10, 2014, supported the intention of the Kyrgyz Republic to become a full member of the Eurasian Economic Union. The road map determined a set of measures to be taken by the Kyrgyz Republic in interaction with the Eurasian Economic Commission and the three states with the aim of the accession of the Kyrgyz Republic to the legal framework of the common economic space of the Republic of Belarus, the Republic of Kazakhstan, and the Russian Federation.

The Kyrgyz side, jointly with the Eurasian Economic Commission and in interaction with other sides, intensified its efforts to implement both road maps with a focus on their early fulfillment.

In November - December 2014, intense efforts were made to prepare the Treaty on the Accession of the Kyrgyz Republic to the Treaty on the EAEU (hereinafter, the Treaty on the Accession). The leadership of the Kyrgyz Republic demonstrated the desire to come close to signing the Treaty on the Accession by the end of 2014.

On December 23, 2014, the Treaty on the Accession of the Kyrgyz Republic to the Treaty on the EAEU dated May 29, 2014, was signed in Moscow. By Decision No. 113 of the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council dated December 23, 2014, the Eurasian Economic Commission, jointly with the governments of the EAEU Member States and the Kyrgyz Republic, was instructed to ensure until March 1, 2015, the preparation and signing of protocols to the Treaty on the Accession to determine the peculiarities of the transition period for Kyrgyzstan with an eye toward the entry into force of the Treaty on the Accession and the protocols as a single package on or before May 8, 2015.

On May 8, 2015, the Protocols to the Treaty on the Accession of the Kyrgyz Republic to the Treaty on the EAEU signed on December 23, 2014, were signed in Moscow at the highest level.

In addition, on May 8, 2015, the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council adopted multiple decisions related to the accession of the Kyrgyz Republic to the EAEU.

By Decision No. 8 of the SEEC dated May 8, 2015, two representatives of the Kyrgyz Republic were confirmed as Members of the Board of the Eurasian Economic Commission.

The Treaty on the Accession entered into force on August 12, 2015. The Kyrgyz Republic became the fifth member of the Eurasian Economic Union.