Annotation

The article examines the unified economic space as an independent constitutional basis for limiting regional lawmaking in the sphere of entrepreneurship. The study proceeds from the premise that constitutional review of the legal impact exercised by constituent entities of the Russian Federation on business activity cannot be reduced to a purely formal division of competences between the Federation and its regions. Alongside Articles 71, 72 and 76 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation, Articles 8 and 74 have autonomous significance, since they enshrine the integrity of the national market, freedom of economic activity and the prohibition of internal economic barriers. The methodological basis of the research includes formal legal, systemic and doctrinal methods. The scientific novelty of the article lies in substantiating the thesis that the unity of the economic space is not a declarative principle, but an operational constitutional criterion for assessing regional licensing regimes, incentives, prohibitions and market access rules for entrepreneurs in relation to goods, services, property and infrastructure. The article concludes that territorial differentiation of regulation is constitutionally admissible only when it is based on federal law, pursues a legitimate public aim, is non-discriminatory and does not amount to concealed regional protectionism.