One of the arguments of the Customs Union opponents is the existence of one of the most important entities of the Customs Union and the Eurasian Economic Union, the Eurasian Economic Commission, which has the status of a supranational governing body. It is not subjugates by the government of any member state, and the Commission decisions are binding in the territory of member states. As a counter-argument to the claim that the existence of such a supranational body is contrary to the Constitution of Armenia and restricts our sovereignty, the ruling party representatives were says that the memberships of each union implies similar restrictions and a certain loss of independence. Estonia has been ten years since it is a member of the European Union. Recalling this debate between the Customs Union supporters and opponents, “Aravot” asked Toomas Sildam, Public Relations Adviser to the President of Estonia, whom we met within the visit of Armenian journalists to Estonia under the mutual initiative of the Estonian Center of Eastern Partnership and the European Union Center of Yerevan, about how their country has lost the possibility of determining the issues independently, and the independence in the meantime. In response, the Estonian president’s Spokesman said, “About a month ago, I was in Moldova with Yevgeny Osinovsky, the MP and future Minister of Education. Yevgeny Osinovsky delivered a lecture at the Belts local University, and was talking about the European integration. He began his lecture approximately as follows: when Estonia was not still a member of the European Union, I was a staunch European pessimist; I was not seeing anything good of why Estonia that has just withdrawn from one union should join another one. Nevertheless, now, continued Mr. Osinovsky, I find no argument why Estonia should not join the European Union. I cannot find any minus in favor of it. And it is true. Every country and every state makes its own choice. We made our choice in favor of the European Union. And the figures, as well as sociological surveys indicate that Estonia is the most optimistic European country in the European Union. And if we count all the billions that we had received for education, innovation, road construction, agriculture… for whatever, this is just an awful big support. And without it, I do not know how Estonia would move forward”.
Anna Israelyan
Tallin
