News report on procedures for combatting laundering of terrorism profits
News Report
There was the meeting of the Eurasian Economic Commission (ECE) on January 26, 2018, where a wide range of integration issues was discussed. One of the main issues was an approval of a draft agreement on the exchange of information in the sphere of combating the laundering of proceeds of crime and countering the financing of terrorism when moving cash across the customs border of the Eurasian Economic Union. According to this draft agreement, there will be a body responsible for the formation of a database on the movement of cash and monetary instruments in the member states, as well as a body that will respond to requests from other countries (Eurasian Economic Commission 2018).
It is quite important to determine the reasons for the integration in the field of security, so that it would be possible to understand the approval of a draft agreement about crime and terrorism issue. Firstly, it might be related to the theory of neo-functionalism, specifically to the concept of spillover. For example, functional spillover might be one of the reasons for the security integration of EAEU, because states become so interconnected that if they integrate in one sector, it will lead to the integration of other sectors (McCormick 2014). It means that as EAEU’s original goal was about economic integration through formation of common market, it then led to the further integration, since the original goals could be achieved only by taking further actions. As a result, member states had to integrate in different spheres, such as security, education, industry to accomplish the main objectives of the union. Secondly, it might be related to the rise of terrorism in the world, especially in the Central Asia. For instance, according to the Institute for Security and Development Policy, recent terrorist attacks in New York, Stockholm, Istanbul and St. Petersburg have connections with Central Asia. Moreover, there is a presence of Al Qaeda and Abu Zar in Central Asia, which implies that those Central Asian states are under threat posed by those terrorist organizations (Zenn 2017). Consequently, EAEU member states might approved the draft agreement about terrorism counteraction in order to reduce potential security threats.
EAEU’s approval of the draft agreement about counteraction of terrorism and its integration in the sphere of security might be somehow similar to the position of European Union (EU). For example, EU is very serious about safety issues, because it even has its own the European Agenda on Security. Furthermore, EU has an Action Plan for strengthening the fight against terrorist financing, which is aimed to determine security challenges, prevent terrorist financing as well as ensure safety for EU citizens (European Commission 2016). Therefore, EAEU is directed to create a body that will be responsible for information exchange about terrorism funding. It implies that EAEU tends to work in the same direction as EU, so that it is possible to find common grounds between these two unions.
References
Eurasian Economic Commission. “Results of the Council of the ECE on 26 January.” Last modified January 26, 2018. http://www.eurasiancommission.org/ru/nae/news/Pages/26-01-2018-2.aspx.
European Commission. “Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council on an Action Plan for strengthening the fight against terrorist financing.” 2016. http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/en/TXT/?uri=CELEX:52016DC0050.
Institute for Security and Development Policy. “Resource List: Terrorism and Islamic Radicalization in Central Asia.” Accessed February 2, 2018. http://isdp.eu/news/terrorism-radicalism-central-asia/.
McCormick, John. Understanding the European Union: A Concise Introduction. Palgrave Macmillan, 2014.
Zenn, Jacob. “Abu Zar and Al Qaeda’s Pesence in Central Asia.” The CACI Analyst. Last modified February 15, 2017. https://cacianalyst.org/publications/analytical-articles/item/13420-abu-zar-alquaeda-central-asia.html.