New Trends in Non-Profit Law and their Influence on Cross-Border Charity in Eurasian Economic Union

Eurasian Economic Union (hereinafter «the EAEU») - is an international organization of regional economic integration established by Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Russia. In nonprofit law of the EAEU’s Member-States there are two noticeable trends: the first one is the tightening of the administrative processes of registration and operation NGOs, as well as receipt of funds from some sources (primarily foreign). The second trend encompasses internal processes of state support for NGOs and facilitating their access to financing from domestic (especially budgetary sources). These trends can be explained from a political point of view, because NGOs are often subject to accusations of promoting "the political interests" of foreign donors. But these legal restrictions have limited charity in EAEU from reaching its full potential. In our opinion the EAEU Member States should at least remove existing legal barriers limiting the cross-border activities of domestic NPOs and NPOs of other Member States. This applies not only to charitable donations and participation of NPOs in applying for the grants on the territory of the EAEU, it also relates to economic activity of the NPOs through providing the paid services including the services within the framework of the state social contracts. Ultimately this will provide the effective realization the benefits offered by the EAEU to its members.