The Free Movement of Persons in the Eurasian Economic Union – Between Civis Eurasiaticus and Homo Oeconomicus

The present chapter examines the provisions of the law of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) on the free movement of persons, focusing on workers. It asks whether there is a “Civis Eurasiaticus” and what this status means. Under EAEU law, there are a number of protections for workers and their family members, but due to a number of limitations the overall status is significantly less advantageous than that of workers under EU law. Moreover, EAEU law appears to pursue a non-integrationist rationale. A comparison with the citizenship provisions of the Russia-Belarus Union state legal framework reveals that the latter contains at least some more far-reaching provisions e.g. in the field of permanent residence rights. One may hope that based on inspiration from this source and on the interpretive “wiggle room” of EAEU law provisions the future case law of the EAEU Court continues to adhere to a rights-based reading of EAEU law and develops its own “citizenship spirit”