Building Peace and Prosperity: Current Prospects of a Common Economic Area “from Lisbon to Vladivostok”

The current prospects for the creation of a Common Economic Area from Lisbon to Vladivostok are in the focus of this paper. Such a project can ensure peace and prosperity in the EU and EAEU. However, the political conditions at present make the integration of both unions seem unrealistic. This paper provides an overview on the incentives and hurdles regarding the creation of a closer integrated economic space between the EU and EAEU. There is a geopolitical dimension, which divides the partners due to fundamental differences in their values. However, there also exist strong economic incentives. These incentives can promote the project despite political differences. The integrating capacities of growing economic and regulatory cooperation provide the basis for political processes to ease the tensions between the integration spaces. The need for political and economic cooperation is obvious regarding the crisis in Ukraine but also the geopolitical challenges for the EU and the EAEU.