“Mimicry†as an Obstacle for Development of the Relations between the Eurasian Economic Union and the European Union

The article attempts to answer, why, though European Union’s experience inspired the founders of the Eurasian Economic Union, which was expected to ease development of relations between the two integration unions, in practice, the EU is very skeptical about both the prospects of the EEU and the prospects of relations between the EU and the EEU. The article demonstrates that institutions and political practices established for the EEU do not only appear to resemble the institutions and practices working in the EU, but institutions and practices of both integration unions are essentially similar. The main reason is that Russian experts in European studies actively participated in working out of the institutional structure and the political practices for the EEU. However, the article concludes that Western elites prefer not to notice the similarities between the EU and the EEU, while underlining differences between them. It is very important for Western elites to demonstrate that institutions and political practices of the EEU and the EU are “almost similar, but not quite†. Thus, it is justified characterizing Western elites’ attitude to the EEU in terms of ‘mimicry’, in the meaning given to that notion in Post-Colonialism in International Relations. The article explains that Western elites do not only demonstrate such kind of attitude to EEU, but almost to all other attempts of regional integration that have ever been undertaken in various parts of the world. The article names such attitude the main obstacle to development of relations between the EU and the EEU, and between the EU and other regional integration unions.