I.R. Sultanov, PhD in Political Science

Bashkir Academy of State Service and Management under the President

of the Republic of Bashkortostan

Ufa, Bashkortostan, Russia Federation

The influence of the integration associations on the rapprochement and unification of domestic legislation

 

The article is devoted to the current issues of the international law. International integration organizations are currently playing a more significant role in the development of the international law. The integration of new institutes of the international law is occurring more rapidly due to the development of the integration organizations. The research looks at the issue of the international cooperation prospects in the context of the influence of the integration associations upon it.

The process of the parity of norms of the international and national legal systems involves recently more and more steadfast attention of jurists. It, first of all, is defined by the objective process of the international cooperation of the states where relations of subjects are regulated by the international law, amplifying influence of the internal law on economic, sociopolitical relations in the country. It is important to notice that this problem is not thus in purely theoretical space.

An important role in this process is played by the international integration associations and the international organizations. As experience shows, the most essential progress in this question was achieved in this sphere of economic cooperation. Mainly, it occurs due to the unity of economic principles («values») introduced by the integration alliances, in particular, those on which the GATT agreement of 1947 and the WTO of 1994 is based. It must be recalled that their participants are the majority (nearby 150) of the world states. Therefore it is a legal duty of all or the majority of integrated groupings. It is possible to consider the second major factor for their effectiveness, in our opinion, to be the innovation in the legal methods used for regulation of the inner-union life [1].

Among them is a general principle of market-base of the national economies, meaning reduction of a role and participation of the governments (those of public level) in the regulation of private legal relations – business. The principle of a free competition, i.e. an antimonopoly policy and management of the state help. It is expressed in economy demonopolization, mainly in such natural monopolies, as railway transportation, telecommunications, electric power and gas industries; as well as an interdiction for rendering of the state help and assuming leading position in a commodity or services market [2]. In these conditions, the traditional interstate cooperation (interstate trade, mutual aid) gives way to cooperation of private persons – corporations and other enterprises (the investment, bank, insurance business, private trade). Finally, the introduction of the "national treatment" for foreign enterprises, facilitating business management in other state. In some directions preferential relations are possible also.

Due to the flexibility [8] peculiar to the integration communities, dynamism and high legal capacity, as well as not in the last instance, thanks to the mass use of the soft legal regulations, do the integration associations get that locomotive role, which they use for the advancement of these economic values and the unification on their basis of the national legal systems and orders. It will be logical to raise the question – why these values and not others. The answer lies, as we have already marked, in the international obligations that follow the states’ memberships in GATT/WTO, which currently amounts to about 150 states. The GATT agreement of 1947 provides an introduction of market rules into the international trading practice, replacing the traditional interstate trade that is based on the sovereignty of the states. Thus, the established interstate unions are also not able to deviate from the GATT/WTO norms and determine their distribution and introduction as their main task. It may be heard sometimes that if Russia joins the WTO, the necessity in a special Partnership and Cooperation Agreement with EU (which is being prepared currently, since June, 2008) will disappear by itself. We will note that today both processes are developed simultaneously – negotiations about the introduction of the Russian Federation into the WTO and negotiations about the new Partnership and Cooperation Agreement with EU (URF-2). Both of these contain the same financial and legal imperatives (both the agreement with the WTO and the agreement with EU). It may be noted that the hindering in one is accompanied by parallel hindering in the other. Likewise, the progress in the negotiations with the WTO coincides with the progress in the negotiations with the Union of Right Forces. This “coincidence” could be observed repeatedly during the two expired years, which suggests the idea of their basic and target unity.

The Liberalization of national economies of member states is that requirement which derive from the specified GATT/WTO agreements, the members of which are all countries of the EU, NAFTA, central Africa or, say, the OPEC. However, in the EU the legitimacy of the GATT imperatives has not come along without fluctuations. As was marked by the professor U.M.Yumashev, «in the early nineteen sixties, the Court considered that the obligations emerge from the GATT agreement, concluded earlier by the member states, does not operate concerning the Community» [9, p.195]. However, «in the early seventies, after the completion of the transition period, the Court in its decisions underlined that obligations of member states in GATT devolve upon the Community in the process of the expansion of its external competence» [9, p.195].

Therefore, if the European power charter, as well as the 1994ã. Agreement to it  [10] are to be mentioned, they already are the documents that demand from the "Contracting parties", those that are not the GATT/WTO members, reorganization of their internal economic relations systems on the liberal model. The integration unions collectively achieve these purposes easier. EU though and through bills of a smaller, than GATT scale (on a circle of participants), suggests to introduce the same economic rules that we have specified above. It is natural that the states, which have only recently left the socialist forms of state system, quite often experience problems of the incompatibility of their economic and legal systems. Some enjoy the priority of state, while others – a private-corporative approach. As the result, the incompatibility of the legal and economic traditions leads to an ineffective or simply inert agreement. For example, F.Lukyanov quite truly writes concerning Russia that «the dialogue about the expansion of the Russia’s deliveries in EU was beyond the utilitarian frameworks «goods – money – goods» and has turned into a basic discussion about the future of Russia’s economy» [11].

Indeed, if we are to compare the Agreement to the European power charter of 1994 and the GATT agreement, is evident that it only somewhat elaborates the GATT provisions, but does not add anything conceptually new to those principles, that the states groupings are to follow according to the 1947 and 1994 agreements. The latter, by the way, in the stated agreement are mentioned time and again as primary [10]. Let us compare: it is the freedom of competition, the principle of non-discrimination, the allegiance to the union market, as well as to the Eurocommunity itself, and the preservation of the environment with its own principle (the pollutant pays). All these general provisions on ECT market liberalization only concretize them with reference to the energy sector, addressing them to specific states. New in the specified Charter and the Agreement to it is only one - involving into the sphere of the convention not just 27 EU states, but 51 state, including Afghanistan, Pakistan, Mongolia, Japan, Ukraine and many other not European states by far. And, the second is a requirement of access of the West European managers to gas-transport networks of all states, noy excluding those, which are not a part of this integration structure.  

As to the sources, private contracts, which are regulated by civil law, unfairly join their number. However, this can hardly be considered as innovative approaches of established integration structures, for even at the dawn of occurrence of this enterprise, some authors have already declared that the international law will never be able to play a really important role in the international affairs until it includes some of questions which nowadays enter into the jurisdiction of specific states into its own sphere of competence [12].

Such discrepancy gives evidence of an aspiration to achieve particular purposes of the integration "at any cost". It is not infrequent that the states show discontent with the pressure of the integration structures and the rates of reforms initiated from above. However, supposedly, a number of other factors force the governments to reconcile and moderate the skepticism, making common cause with the majority. The EU experience testifies that collectivity has a significant integrating influence on the members of the grouping.

Nevertheless, the pressure, rates with which the integration is conducted in the past years, in particular, in Europe, causes discomfort among the states and the aspiration of their own position. Solidarity suffers. The states periodically recall their sovereignty. It may be seen that the voting on referendums gives one failure after another. So, in 2007, the absence of solidarity was most obvious in an oppositional stand of Poland and Estonia. There is also a group of traditional eurosceptics, which in EU are considered to be Denmark, Ireland and Great Britain. Since 2005, France and the Netherlands have joined their number. Euroscepticism is already considered by the West European authors as a system, and completely not passing phenomenon [12].

 

The list of the used sources:

1.                 The consolidated version of the European Union Agreement and the Agreement establishing the European community. Luxembourg: Office for Official Publications of the EC, 1997. 

2.                 EU promotes strengthening of a competition of the free market in Russia//the Press release. Moscow, Representative office of the European Commission in Russia.15th of September, 2003. //http:// www.eur.ru

3.                 Koretsky V.M. «The general principles of the law» in international law. Kiev, 1957.

4.                 Gerchikova I.N. The international economic organizations: regulation of inter-economic relations and enterprise activity. The manual – Moscow, JSC "Konsultbankir" Publishing house, 2000. 23p.

5.                 Andris Piebalgs. The European Commission member on energy issues//the Bulletin of the Representative office of the European Commission in the Russian Federation, Release 1-2, May 2007// http://www.vestnik.eu-visibility.ru/issue01-02/novaya-evropeiskaya-energeticheskaya-politika.

6.                 Yumashev U.Ì. Chapter 7 «Sources of the law of the EU»//the European law, policy and integration: Actual problems// Under. scientific edit. of L.H.Mingazov. Kazan. 2005.

7.                 Lukyanov F. The cooperation of the EU and the Russian Federation in energy sector is built upon a strong base//Europe, No.5 (28), May, 2003.p.IX.

8.                 Zhjujar Karro// Quote from the work of Shumilov V.M. The International public economic law. The manual. Ìoscow: NIMP, 2001.

9.                 Brierly J. The Law of Nations.-4 ed. London, 1949.-P.142 ff.; Op.cit.-5 Åd.-London, 1955. P.75 ff.

10.             Carlos Flores Huberias. «Antieuropeism» and «euroscepticism»: the analysis of the situation after the expansion of the European union to the East//Europe: Journal of the Polish institute of the international affairs. Volume 7, No.2(23), 2007.

11.             Carlos Flores Huberias – the Essays //http:// europa.eu.int8comm

12.             Muljun V.N. Features of the parity of the international and the internal law in activities of the World Trade Organization, the International currency fund and the World bank group//Dissertation. Ph.D. in legal sciences. Moscow. 2009.