At the meeting of the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council on December 26 in the Leningrad region (Russian Federation), the Heads of State of the Eurasian Economic Union reviewed the reports of the Eurasian Economic Commission on the functioning of the common market of services and on the liberalization of certain sectors of services within the association.

The report on the functioning of the common market of services highlights the key stages of its formation and the current situation, and identifies the obstacles removed on the way to barrier-free access for service providers from the EAEU states. In addition, it points out the possibilities for further development of the common market of services and describes advantages for businesses of the Union's countries.

Proposals resulting from the report will be used by the Commission and regulators of the participating countries to improve the mechanisms of liberalization of trade in services, contributing to the formation of a full-fledged common market.

Commenting on the document, Bakhyt Sultanov, EEC Minister in charge of Economy and Financial Policy, noted that today there are 142 sectors in the EAEU common market of services, which is about 31% of all service sectors.

"This shows that there is a potential for its growth and allows us to outline directions for further work to form and ensure the full functioning of the EAEU common market of services," the EEC Minister emphasized.

In the report on the implementation of liberalization plans, the key areas of focus are services in tourism, meteorology, surveying, property valuation, construction and motion pictures.

As a result of implementing the plans for 18 sectors, 10 of them have been transferred to the common market for services, and the transfer of two more sectors — underground and ground surveying services — is in its final stages.

"The Commission is actively engaging with the Union countries to conclude administrative cooperation agreements between competent authorities in eight other sectors. This cooperation will enable additional support for the successful functioning of these sectors in the common market mode," summarized Bakhyt Sultanov.