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The Mercosur Parliament: democracy and integration
on European patterns?
Clarissa Franzoi Dri
PhD Candidate - IEP de Bordeaux
Summary: 1. The role of ideas in political mimesis.2. Democracy in EU: the place of the European Parliament. 3. Regionalism after Europe:
a parliament rises in Mercosur. 3.1. Traces of the Joint Parliamentary Committee.3.2. The Mercosur Parliament gets up on the wrong side of the bed.
Conclusion. Bibliographical references.
The presidents of Mercosur member states signed in December 2005
the Constitutive Protocol of the Mercosur Parliament (Parlasur)1. The new assembly
was officially installed in December 2006 and began its work sessions in May 2007.
Although Parliaments functions and competences are not large in comparison to
national chambers, it will be formed by directly elected representatives. Three main
reasons allow the assumption that the decision to create this assembly was not
fortuitous, ingenuous ou merely symbolic: 1. the delay and the difficult negotiations
that preceded it; 2. the contradiction of the Mercosur objective to constitute no more
than a common market2 and 3. the absence of a parliamentary assembly in the
previous essays for integration in which participated Mercosur countries (Oliveira,
2003 : 53-73). How, then, to interpret it?
According to the Constitutive Protocol, the Parliament should answer
to a double necessity: 1. reinforcing the integration process through a balanced and
efficient institutional structure and 2. deepening democracy within Mercosur by
constructing a space of plurality, participation and interest representation3. The paper
aims at examining both purposes from the international relations perspective. More
Paper prepared for the 3rd GARNET Annual Conference - Mapping integration and regionalism in aglobal world: the EU and regional governance outside the EU, Bordeaux, September 17-20th 2008,workshop Parliaments in regional integrations, coordinated by Olivier Costa and Julien Navarro. Draftversion.1 The abbreviation Parlasur is not official, but its formal use has been increasing among media andParliaments civil servants and deputies. This is the reason for its adoption in the paper.2
Article 1 of the Asuncin Treaty. Available in www.mercosur.int.3 Preamble of the Constitutive Protocol (CMC Decision 23/05). The document is available inwww.parlamentodelmercosur.org.
mailto:[email protected]://www.mercosur.int/http://www.mercosur.int/http://www.parlamentodelmercosur.org/mailto:[email protected]://www.mercosur.int/http://www.parlamentodelmercosur.org/7/31/2019 DRI Clarissa
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rather than to transfer processes. It means this paper focuses more in Mercosur
expectations and movements towards the EU than in specific European transfer
policies on parliamentary issues. This choice corresponds to the ideational approach
that supports the main hypothesis. A deeper analysis of the concrete actions carried
out by the European Union towards the Mercosur Parliament deserves further
research.
The qualitative study is mainly based on public written documents
produced by the Joint Parliamentary Committee, the Mercosur Parliament and other
Mercosur institutions. Minutes of the Brazilian representation meetings and
newspaper reports and interviews constitute an additional source. These data
provide elements for the approach of the following questions: was the creation of theMercosur Parliament inspired in democratic ideas similar to those supported by the
EU? Did the European idea of integration guide the creation of the assembly as it did
with the Mercosur creation itself? In what measure European Unions actions
affected this decision? Do deputies use the European Parliament as a model to
Parlasurs institutionalization? Has the EP contributed to the democratic legitimation
of the EU in such a way that it can be considered as a paradigm for Mercosur
Parliaments builders? Moreover, does the European model fit in Latin American
political context? Would it help to strengthen integration and development within the
region?
1. The role of ideas in political mimesis
Several studies conducted mainly from the nineties on (Goldstein,
1988; Hall, 1989; Sikkink, 1991; Risse-Kappen, 1994; Vennesson, 2004; Madrid,
2005; Thomas, 2005) show that ideas, defined as beliefs shared by individuals, have
an influence over policy-making (Goldstein and Keohane, 1993 : 3). In terms of
European integration, authors point out, for instance, the role of the united Europe
ideal in the communitarian construction (Garrett and Weingast, 1993 : 205); the
significance of political leaders beliefs about macroeconomic strategy in the
evolution of the monetary cooperation (McNamarra, 1998); and the weight of the
democratic ideology in the progressive reinforcement of European Parliaments
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powers (Costa and Magnette, 2003). In fact, ideas constitute active ingredients in the
organization of experience and in the interplay of political positions and, therefore,
are closely implicated in political argument, understanding and action (Foley, 1994 :
1).
The ideas studied in this article may be understood as causal beliefs,
in the sense that they provide guides for actors on how to achieve their objectives
(Goldstein and Keohane, 1993 : 10). But causal beliefs imply strategies for the
attainment of goals only understandable within the context of broader world views,
which define the universe of possibilities for action (Ibid : 8). The conceptions of
integration and democracy built by the European Union would be part of the
desirable alternatives for political conduction to some actors in Mercosur. Concretely,the European Parliament would be seen as a source of inspiration on how to proceed
in order to achieve the aims compatible to the mentioned perspective. In this case,
these ideas could provide a consensual response to the lack of a project in Mercosur.
As focal points, ideas alleviate coordination problems arising from the absence of
unique equilibrium solutions. For the close actors of the Parlasur creation, these
ideas could serve as well as road maps: causal ideas help determine which of many
means will be used to reach desired goals and therefore help to provide actors with
strategies with which to further their objectives; embodied in institutions, they shape
the solution for problems (Ibid : 13-14).
Considering the role of ideas in political outcomes is not to say that
they are the most important explaining elements ; it is only to recognize that they are
also important. This is confirmed by the assumption that ideas often become
politically efficacious when in conjunction with other changes, either in material
interests or in power relationships (Ibid : 25). Besides, probably not only beliefs
derived from the European experience have influenced the creation of the Parlasur.
Nevertheless, analysing these additional factors is beyond the scope of this paper. Its
goal is simply to question if certain European ideals integration and democracy
affected the process of rise of the new South American assembly.
But avoiding reducionism requires at least to mention why these
ideas would have enough force in order to be considered in the context of Mercosur.
The conditions that allow the play of ideas are highly dependent on an array ofenabling circumstances related to institutional arrangements, place, timing, history,
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economics and culture (Risse-Kappen, 1994 : 187; Ikenberry, 1993 : 85; Garrett,
1993 : 203; Hall, 1989 : 362; Weir, 1989 : 56-59). The analysis developed in the
following sections will hopefully contribute to the understanding of reasons such as
the European colonization in Latin America (LA), the industrialization process in
Argentina and Brazil during the seventies, the financial, technical and political
investment of the European Union in Mercosur, the wave of left-wing government
elections in South America from the end of the 1990s on, the increasing popular
questioning of the United States influence in Latin America, the failure of the
negotiations for the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) and the knowledge on
the European system by scholars who active participate in Mercosur debates.
The ideas under analysis may have led Mercosur to a process ofreproduction of the institutional framework of the European Union. Institutional
mimicry can be defined as a form of social engineering distinguished by the
importation of external institutional technologies which are rebuilt by exporters and
importers and constantly reinterpreted by competing political strategies (Darbon,
1993 : 119-120). Three main elements emerge from this conception. First,
institutional mimesis is almost always an affair of elites, who have material
possibilities to get in touch with foreign practices. These exchanges are facilitated by
informal networks of experts, scholars and policy-makers from different continents
who share similar references and values (Mny, 1993 : 20-22). Second, the
envisaged model is often an ideal one, engendered by the representation held by
importers. The difficulties and limitations of the institution in its original environment
are frequently neglected (Darbon, 1993 : 120). Finally, the mechanism of mimesis
implies transformation and adjustment to the new context. Local needs and previous
experiences will define the process of institutional appropriation and reinvention
(Mny, 1993 : 10). Like a graft, the imported technology is progressively rejected or
assimilated by the organism. If there is no reaction regarding the strange body, it
becomes ineffective after a process of deviation or escapism (Darbon, 1993 : 120).
Mimetic processes are among the means defined by DiMaggio and
Powell through which institutional isomorphic change occurs. When organizational
technologies are poorly understood, when goals are ambiguous or when the
environment creates symbolic uncertainty, organizations may model themselves on
other organizations (1983 : 151). As a response to uncertainty, the Mercosur
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Parliament may be based in a sort of modeling. Institutional convergence can
contribute efficiently and in a cheap manner to the achievement of desirable similar
results (Mny, 1993 : 17-18). In addition, the dependence on the support from a
single institution and the reduced number of available institutional models may
explain isomorphism in this case (DiMaggio and Powell, 1983 : 155).
Every political system tends to search for inspiration in existent
models. If institutions rise and change in a world already full of them, the conditioning
by previous frameworks is inevitable (Hall and Taylor, 1997 : 490). Institutional
mimesis can thus occur among systems either with similar or different political
standards and levels of industrialization. The last situation was historically verified
during the processes of decolonization: in general, ex-colonies mirrored their newregimes in the features of colonizer countries. This context of unequal rapports
revealed antagonisms between modernity and lack of civilization, cultural
refinement and uncultivated usages. Institutional mimicry allowed the construction
of legitimizing ideologies which opposed dominant models and imperfect copies
(Darbon, 1993 : 114). Contemporary, in spite of the proclaimed respect to cultural
diversity, the occidental state still claims a universalistic vocation which produces
cultural dependency and defines the current international order (Badie, 1992). The
institutional mimesis potentially developed by the Mercosur Parliament vis--vis the
European Union corresponds to this logic. Yet Latin America oscillates between its
occidental pretensions and its indigenous origins, the differences regarding Europe
do not concur to a horizontal relationship. The Europeanization phenomenon,
irrefutable in some aspects of national life within member states and applicant states
(Featherstone, 2003), has perhaps surpassed the continent. Most forms of
cooperation among states can be classified after the European style, which is
probably the case of Mercosur. In this case, challenges concern the risks of
implementing political technologies invented for a diverse reality, more important in
asymmetrical transfers than in symmetrical ones. Next sections conceptualize both
democracy and integration, ideas that may have encouraged this institutional
mimesis within the Mercosur Parliament.
2.
Democracy in EU: the place of the European Parliament
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The first registers of democracy date from Antiquity, but it is possible
that some practices have taken place even before Greece and Rome. The classical
theory on democracy was also born in Europe during the rise of the modern state. A2500 year-old subject could not be new to the European Community (EC). In fact,
academic analysis is vast in this field, although it was not central to the political
debate until the seventies. Before that, the economic nature of the Community limited
its necessity of democratic legitimacy to the national ambit (Tel, 1995 : 7). The EC
was mainly understood as part of the foreign policy of each state, due to the logics of
cooperation and sectorial integration. Another reason, of theological nature, eluded
the legitimacy debate: the consensus that integration was the most efficient methodto achieve peace and development in Europe (Magnette, 2000 : 174). Avoid future
wars and launch prosperity are ideals which based the European construction and
reached to unify national leaders positions (Weiler, 1995). As the project should be
supported by its ends, questions about its means became secondary.
The inclusion of the Common Assembly (CA) in the European Coal
and Steel Community (ECSC) Treaty, in 1952, confirms that efforts for democracy at
the supranational level were feeble at the time. There was a consensus that the HighAuthority should be controlled: transferring competencies to the Community required
accountability mechanisms. But governments agreed that the CA would not be able
to exercise legislative or policy-influencing powers. Democracy was accepted in the
form of the CA, but it should not make a difference (Rittberger, 2005 : 106). In
addition, the intergovernmental branch (the Council) should allow state
representation and, consequently, afford possibility for national parliaments actions.
The situation started to change when both economic and theologicalpremises were questioned. The recession period revealed the fragilities of a simply
common market, and peace became more a fact than a concern. When finalities
missed, attentions turned back to procedures and institutions, which intended to be
functional and efficient, but not necessarily democratic. Therefore, the debate on
democracy was opened in Europe through the democratic deficit assumptions. The
Community was challenged to address directly to the people to seek for support.
Since then, Europe has been trying to convince citizens of its conformity to theirvalues and aspirations. Enlarged competences and direct elected representatives
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were considered key elements to achieve political legitimacy. Nonetheless, the
European elections of 1979 did not beat its partisans expectations. The level of
participation was considered weak and went down progressively at each new
election (see Blondel et al, 1998). The electoral campaign remained centered in
national questions. Even if the direct suffrage contributed to expand the studies on
the Community and to warrant a triple organic, institutional and political
independence to the EP (Costa, 2001 : 35-37), it was not able to substantially
improve individuals perception on the integration.
With the signature of the Maastricht Treaty, in 1992, the democratic
discourse entered more emphatically in the supranational arena. As the European
Single Act of 1986 was judged too economic to face some political rearrangements ofthe 1990s (the German reunification and the end of the communist era in the USSR),
Maastricht was conceived to advance deeper and faster forward the political
integration (Wolton, 1993 : 27). New concepts and ideas were introduced mainly
the European citizenship, the monetary union and the denomination European
Union but democracy was treated more like a symbol than a practice, even during
the negotiations for the Treaty. The outputs remained a central element of legitimacy,
whilst the inputs, as the organization of citizens participation on decisions, were not
developed (Magnette, 2000, p. 184). Once more, the reinforcement of the European
Parliaments powers should cover the gap. Parliamentary competences were
enlarged, like in 1985, and a new legislative procedure was added to the Single Act
cooperation: the co-decision. It gave the deputies the same political weight as the
Council, due to the necessity of agreement between both institutions to approve a
project. The Amsterdam Treaty, of 1999, expanded the areas of co-decision and
simplified the procedure, besides confirming the investiture of the Commission by the
Parliament. However, the increase of formal legitimacy did not avoid a decline of
public opinion legitimacy (Tel, 1995 : 18).
Like the previous ones, the following treaties were not able not give
efficient responses to the democratic deficit question. The Nice Treaty, signed in
2001, increased the parliamentary features of EUs political system mainly through
the limitation of the number of commissars, the extension of the majoritarian vote
field in the Council and the improvement of EPs powers (enlargement of the co-
decision procedure and possibilities to act in the Court of Justice). The project of the
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European Constitution (2004) offered an important position to the dialogue with civil
society, but it would not strongly affect the ancient institutional logic (Costa, 2004 :
279). Some of its previsions would also make the EU system more similar to the
nation-state: the parliamentary election of the president of the Commission, the two-
year presidency of the Council and the creation of the Foreign Affairs representative.
After the rejection of the Constitution in France and the Netherlands, the Lisbon
Treaty (2007) should simplify and assure efficacy to an institutional arrangement
capable to deal with the challenges of the enlarged Europe. But this federal belief,
according to which treaties should warrant Europe more democracy, is apparently
more risky than adopting a functional approach and advance integration through
punctual discussions (Costa and Magnette, 2007a).
Theoretically, the European Union meets Dahls criteria for a large-
scale democracy: elected officials; free, fair and frequent elections; freedom of
expression; access to alternative sources of information; associational autonomy and
inclusive citizenship (1998 : 85-86). The dysfunctions rely on the differences of this
special large-scale democracy from the traditional nation-state features (Magnette,
2000 : 200). First, the community method (Quermonne, 2001 : 50), searching for a
balance between the intergovernmental and supranational branches, does not point
one central and hierarchical authority. Instead, the logic of cooperation among
institutions prevails. Second, parties and other traditional political actors do not fit
well in the highly consensual and non-ideological European style. Sectorial actors
strategies (lobby, interest groups, specialized organizations) seem more appropriate
to deal with the fragmentation of European policies. Third, the existence of a
European public space, understood as a symbolic or material place of political
communication (Sintomer, 2003 : 179), is vigorously questioned. In general, citizens
attitudes towards UE vary between indifference and suspicion and they cannot be
considered to form an European society (Smith, 2004 : 46). Political cleavages and
the sovereignty principle, fundamental characteristics of occidental democracies, can
barely be reproduced in the European Union. This situation helps to explain the
perceived elitism in the European construction (Costa and Magnette, 2007b) and
may confirm Dahls prevision that democracy, as states conceive it, is unlikely to
move up to the international level (1998 : 117).
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The European Parliament is directly affected by the chronic lack of
legitimacy of the supranational level. If EU contradicts national logics of decision-
making and interest representation, an elected assembly inspired in the national
chambers cannot warrant a general democratic reliance on the Union (Costa, 2001 :
63). In spite of it, one of the reasons to the significant increase of powers achieved by
the EP since its creation was governments expectative to minimize the democratic
deficit (Costa and Magnette, 2003; Rittberger, 2005). Parliaments creation and
empowerment are connected to democratic needs, but the communitarian logic limits
its role in promoting democracy. This is why the European political system can
neither be considered exactly parliamentary nor presidential: the process of
parliamentarization at the regional scale corresponded to the specificities and
originality of the EU, not to the nation-state model (Costa, 2004; Magnette, 1999).
If the European Parliament itself is not able to surpass the
supranational democratic deficit, why could it be a source of democratic inspiration to
the Mercosur Parliament? A broad analytical register allows some answers which
might have motivated the involved actors.
1. The European Union has been, since its origins, the most democratic process of
regional integration with ambitions which surpassed the establishment of a free tradearea. Its difficulties to improve democracy cannot be denied, but tensions among
descriptive and prescriptive practices are inherent to a democratic system.
Democracy results from, and is shaped by, the interactions between its ideals and
its reality, the pull of an oughtand the resistance of an is (Sartori, 1987 : 8). As
Mercosur itself was partially inspired in the European model, it is intelligible that EUs
institutions and procedures are considered a possible source for the democratization
process in the South American bloc.
2. Even if Latin American experiences of democracy are able to inspire a democratic
construction beyond the nation-state, some of its shapes are considered a sort of
delegative democracy (ODonnell, 1994), also called low-intensity, poor or
democracy or democracy by default. Political institutions used to be too weak to
ensure the representation of diverse interests, constitutional supremacy, the rule of
law, constraint of executive authority, accountability among powers or programmatic
rather than personalistic projects situation that still persists in some countries. The
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reproduction of the European institutional arrangement may constitute an essay to
build up a more efficient and deeper democracy in Mercosur.
3. The European democratic deficit does not impede the Parliament to effectively
influence communitarian decisions. In Mercosur, presidents, ministers and diplomatshave always negotiated and defined most of the policies without consulting the
parliamentary branch. The Mercosur Parliament may contribute to democracy in the
regional level just by promoting an effective parliamentary representation in the
decision-making process.
4. In the same direction, EPs power to control the Commission may inspire the idea
of accountability in Mercosur. As an intergovernmental organization, Mercosur is
generally understood as an element of States foreign policy, which should becontrolled with national mechanisms. But many decisions taken by the Common
Market Group (CMG), the executive branch, do not need to be ratified by national
chambers for being part of the internal functioning of Mercosur. On the other side, the
internalization of norms, when necessary, can take several years, due to the gap
between what governments decide in the regional level and the priorities of national
parliaments. The development of strategies to control CMG by the Mercosur
Parliament could improve transparency in the bloc as well as the amount of validlegislation.
5. Transparency could also be increased if the Mercosur Parliament acts, as its
European homologous, like a catalyst of regional demands from social organizations
and interest groups. Industry associations and productive sectors are almost the only
groups to be able to make their positions known by CMG. The Parliament, despite of
its reduced powers, is already seen by several actors as a unique ally in promoting
and draining their demands through the establishment of work programs favorable totheir claims.
6. After the agenda-setting, the effectiveness of such a catalysis role depends on
parliamentary deliberation. Although the deliberation on the European Parliament is
distinguished by a sort of apoliticization resultant from the pursuit of efficiency
(Costa, 1996) and particular supranational and federal constraints (Costa, 2001 :
85-93), it reflects the different logics of pluralism which support the communitarian
political system (Costa, 2001 : 107). Deliberation procedures in the Mercosur
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Parliament including interest representation from various actors and institutions
(associations of all kinds, Mercosur institutions, governments, national and local
parliaments, municipalities) may contribute to democratic pluralism in the regional
level.
The proclaimed consensus about the need of democracy in Mercosur
has several origins from different natures. Internally, it cannot be understood without
considering the colonial period, the dictatorships which persisted until the end of the
20th century in Latin America and parliamentarians interest in maximizing their
political power. Externally, the concern for regulating globalization and the
supranationality debate also imply consequences for democracy. But the argument
presented in this paper refers to another external reason: the influence of theEuropean Union. The next section shows how the European integration determined
some demarches in Mercosur. Many of its institutions and policies were built on and
with financial and technical support of the EU. Therefore, the idea of integration is not
enough to explain the creation of the Parliament. Democratic ideals derived from the
communitarian example are essential to understand why an assembly was born
among other institutional options.
3. Regionalism after Europe : a parliament rises in Mercosur
Since the 1960s, its constructors and theoreticians started to
consider European integration as a model with a potential for being exported to other
continents. Paradoxically, the critique of the ambiguities and the debilities of the
European example of integration has always been followed by a strong optimism
about its potential virtues to other regions of the world (Costa and Foret, 2005 :
507-508). Therefore, EC institutions progressively developed an exportation policy of
their conceptions and mechanisms, due to technical and financial support from the
states desiring to embark on the regional venture. In the case of Mercosur (as well as
in the Andean Community), these actions led to the rise of a representative assembly
which replaced the intergovernamental parliamentary committee. The first part of this
section explains the context in which Mercosur was born and its basic structure. It
also points out some strategies of the Community to spread its integration ideal. The
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second part analyses some reasons for the importation of both democracy and
integration ideas by the Mercosur Parliament.
3.1. Traces of the Joint Parliamentary Committee
Fostering regional cooperation was one of the first initiatives of the
European Community in the international field (Smith, 2008 : 76), which reflects the
absence of a clear distinction between foreign policy and external economic policy at
the time (Yakemtchouk, 2005 : 56). These activities were carried out by the
Commission within the external relations framework provided by the Rome Treaty
(1957), mainly through the Common Commercial Policy and the power to conclude
association agreements with third countries and groups of states. The Council
discussed broader issues in an informal and intergovernmental manner (Dumond
and Setton, 1999 : 5). The Ministers of Foreign Affairs started in 1959 to conduct
regular meetings, which led to a process referred to as European Political
Cooperation (EPC). It was institutionalized only in 1970 and formalized with the
European Single Act. At the outset, the Community drew its attention to African ex-
colonies, so that Latin America was not chosen as a priority (Mayall, 2005; Grilli,
1993 : 227). The first concrete attempt towards regionalism in Latin America in the
20th century, the Latin American Free Trade Association (LAFTA), emerged thus
based on developmental assumptions derived from the North American influence on
the region (Santander, 2007 : 123-124) and as a reaction to the European external
tariff and agricultural protectionism (Mattli, 1999 : 140).
LAFTA was born in 1960 with the Montevideo Treaty. The
negotiations were sponsored by the Economic Commission for Latin America
(ECLA), an agency of the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations. In
1967, LAFTA was composed by Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay,
Colombia, Equador, Venezuela and Bolivia. Its formal objective was not only to
achieve a free trade area but also to construct a long-term development model
attentive to social issues. Nonetheless, the absence of delegate powers and the
reduced institutional framework did not encourage more than an economic-oriented
organization. The formation of a continental free trade area was biased by difficulties
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regarding the asymmetric levels of industrialization among states and changes in
national political regimes (nationalist and authoritarian forces governed many Latin
America countries during the 1960s and 1970s). Consequently, LAFTA was
replaced by the Latin American Integration Association (LAIA), created in 1980 by the
second Montevideo Treaty signed by the same states, plus Chile and Cuba. The
general objective of this new association is also to promote trade liberalization in the
region, but through less ambitious and more flexible means. Its relatively complex
institutional design and stable Secretariat contributed to increase commercial
negotiations among its members, which guided to the signature of bilateral and
multilateral agreements. The Asuncin Treaty (1991), constitutive of Mercosur, is one
of them (Bonilla, 1991 : 84-86).
By the time of the creation of LAIA, the European Community started
to establish deeper relations with Central and Andean Americas. The Central
America Common Market (CACM) had been founded in 1960 and was economically
more successful than LAFTA in its first decade. In 1984, after the military crisis
evolving Nicaragua and El Salvador, EC took part on the negotiations to the
pacification and democratization of the region and proposed a cooperation
agreement, signed in 1985. In 1983, a trade and cooperation agreement was
reached with the Andean Community, created in 1969 and today composed by
Bolvia, Colombia, Equador and Peru. During the 1970s, bilateral trade agreements
were concluded with Argentina, Uruguay, Brazil and Mexico. But it was after the
adhesion of Portugal and Spain (1986) and the foundation of Mercosur (1991) that
ties linking the Community and the South Cone were strengthened. The Maastricht
Treaty was signed in this period, implementing the Common Foreign and Security
Policy (CFSP) as the second pillar of EU, which tried to improve former coordination
procedures. The CFSP is more complex than the EPC and has gradually developed
communitarian characteristics yet not necessarily equal to the ones of the first pillar
(Nuttall, 2000; Neuilly, 2005), but Unions external relations continued to be handled
on an intergovernmental basis. Many scholars would still agree that the CFSP has a
relatively small importance for the foreign policies of EUs member states and is not a
truly comprehensive external policy (Peterson and Sjursen, 1998 : 169).
In terms of cooperation for regionalism, the CFSP intervenes chiefly
through political dialogue. Since 1999, five summits of European and Latin American
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heads of state were organized by the Council. However, the unified and active role
played by EU over the years in this field is actually due to the economic instruments
of the first pillar, or the civil actions of the Union (Tel, 2005 : 176). Trade,
cooperation and association agreements are the leading means driven by the
Commission to stimulate integration worldwide. Actually, CFSP has been following
economic external policies, which are highly unified and have been progressively
politicized (Smith, 1998). This assumption corresponds to the evidence that
economical integration goes faster than the political one in the EU. Regarding the
European Parliament, its competences in external relations are not large but have
been increasing4. In general, deputies support biregional initiatives of the
Commission and even complement them by playing a special role in
interparliamentary relations.
Mercosur was founded in the context of LAIA negotiations by
Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay. Chile, Bolivia, Equador, Peru and
Colombia are associated countries. Venezuelas Adhesion Protocol was approved in
2005 and waits for parliamentary ratification in Brazil and Paraguay. In addition to the
Asuncin Treaty, the Ouro Preto Protocol (1994) and the Olivos Protocol (2002)
define the objectives and the institutional framework of the bloc. The creation of a
common market, the promotion of social and economic development and the
maintenance of democracy within the member states are among Mercosur goals.
The leading institutions are the following:
4 The Parliament can influence trade and enlargement agreements through the assent procedure,which does not allow amendments. The co-decision is used for ordinary legislation coveringdevelopment aid. Besides, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the current presidency answers oral
questions in the assembly once a session. The EP can adopt resolutions on external policy, which arerarely discussed by the Council. There is also the need to approve the annual budget, which allowsthe EP a general control on Unions external actions, as well as on other subjects.
15
Common Market GroupCMC
ParliamentPermanent Revision Court
PRCCommon Market Group
CMG
Consultative Economic and Social ForumCESF
Secretariat
Mercosur Commerce CommitteeMCC
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The CMC is responsible for the main political decisions and it is
constituted by the ministers of foreign affairs and economy of the member states.
CMG and MCC are the executive branches, formed by diplomats and officials from
ministries and central banks. The latter assists the former in policy-making regarding
commercial issues. CMGs structure includes a large number of thematic committees
and workgroups. The CESF represents the economic and social sectors of Mercosur.
It is formed by an equal number of representatives of each member state, usually
from labor unions, enterprise syndicates and productive sectors associations. It can
present recommendations to CMG. The Permanent Revision Court seats in
Asuncin. It is integrated by five arbitrators who can be requested any time to review
Ad Hoc Courts judgments or directly decide on conflicts among member states. The
Mercosur Secretariat, placed in Montevideo, is an organ of the CMGs structure that
accomplishes the main administrative and technical responsibilities.
The creation of Mercosur was generally inspired in the European
experience (Camargo, 1999; Medeiros, 2000) and influenced by EUs exportation
policies. The EU has promoted its own example through a double passive and active
behavior towards Mercosur for most of the 1990s (Lenz, 2008). In the first role, EU
fosters its ideal of integration simply by existing as a model. In the second, EU acts in
order to diffuse the model. In the case of Mercosur, the actor-strategy includes trade,
economic relations, political dialogue and cooperation (Lenz, 2006 : 7-9). Through
technical assistance, facilitation measures, transfer of know-how and direct financial
aid to institutions, EU has tried to shape Mercosur according to its own programs and
values. In this area, the Union seems to be capable of surpassing the usual gap
between the first and second pillars and develop a relatively successful soft
diplomacy (Petiteville, 2005 : 137).
Nevertheless, important points of dissonance remain between both
integration attempts. The absence of sectorial supranationality in Mercosur is one of
them. Governments did not transfer sovereignty to the regional level; all decisions
are taken by consensus. Regional law does not prime over national rules nor can be
applied to individuals or states without internalization in the national juridical systems.
Consequently, its binding character is precarious (Ventura, 1996 : 59). In economic
terms, it is currently seen as an imperfect customs union because of the various
products excluded from the common external tariff. Even so the institutional structure
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is gradually becoming more alike to the European Union, as shown by the rise of
Parlasur. This event corresponds to the progressive or developmental discourse
about Mercosur, in contrast to the realistic or liberal perspective according to which
higher functional integration should supersede the establishment of participative or
representative institutions (Malamud, 2006 : 6).
The Parliament replaces from 2007 on the Joint Parliamentary
Committee (JPC), which represented national parliaments and had consultative
functions. Although LAFTA and LAIA did not display representative institutions, the
Treaty for Cooperation, Development and Integration signed by Brazil and Argentina
in 1988 comprised a parliamentary committee to follow negotiations. The Asuncin
Treaty barely failed in including the JPC: it is not mentioned among the institutionalstructure, but at the very end, in the general provisions. The purpose of this last-
moment organ was to accelerate the ratification of the Treaty in national chambers
and to assure the procedure in the future, considering that more parliamentary
consents would be necessary until the implementation of the common market. JPC
approved its internal rules in 1991: it would be formed by 16 deputies from each
national congress and would meet twice a year. One of its statutory attributions was
to develop the required actions to the installation of the Mercosur Parliament.
Since its beginning, JPC searched for closer relations with the
European Parliament, which actively corresponded to the contacts. Until 1997, three
meetings between both institutions have been organized (table 1), resulting in
declarations on cooperation and on the creation of a parliamentary assembly in
Mercosur. Four Interparliamentary Conferences EU LA have also been carried out
in the period, whose agenda embraced the integration initiatives rising in Latin
America and, consequently, sub-regional interparliamentary dialogue (table 2). In
addition, in December 1995 Mercosur and EU signed the Interregional Framework
Cooperation Agreement, which included technical assistance and interinstitutional
cooperation to foster integration in the new bloc and formalized the basis for the
political dialogue between the parties. However, the behavior of Mercosur deputies
was not, in general, similar to their European colleagues: instead of questioning
CMCs positions or trying to achieve more influence in the decision-making process,
the parliamentarians adjusted themselves to the feeble functions of the JPC
(Vigevani et al, 2000 : 271).
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The Permanent Administrative Parliamentary Secretariat (PAPS),
established in 1997, was responsible for introducing a new breath in the Committees
activities. It was created after a demand of the European Commission, which asked
in 1996 for an organ of contact to negotiate the cooperation project. In spite of the
reduced number of the staff, the Secretariat centralized JPCs structure in
Montevideo and offered administrative support for the meetings. In 1999, it helped to
establish the first agenda for the institutionalization of a Parliament in Mercosur5. The
agreement with EU was implemented in 2000 and offered JPC a budget of 960
thousand euros, which substantially changed the dynamics of work in the
Secretariat6.
Based on PAPSs plan of 1999, JPC started to discuss moreconcretely the idea of creating a Parliament. The Secretariat organized seminars7
and deputies agreed on new actions regarding the subject8. Several activities were
financed or supported by the European Commission, and exchanges with members
of the European Parliament continued (tables 1 and 2)9. In 2004, a permanent group
to discuss the relations between the blocs was created. Meanwhile, explicit
references to the European experience were common among the Brazilian
delegation to JPC and diplomatic body10. In 2003, Argentinean and Brazilian sections
5 JPC Provision 14/99. Most of Mercosur documents referring to the creation of the Parliament may befound in Konrad Adenauer Stiftung and Comisin Parlamentaria Conjunta. Hacia el Parlamento delMercosur. 2. ed. Montevideo: KAS Uruguay, 2006.6 Oscar Casal, former secretary of JPC, interview on July 13th 2004, Montevideo.7 JPC Provisions 11 e 12/00.8 For instance, CPC Provisions 35/00 and 05/02 (calendars for the institutionalization of theParliament), Recommendation 25/02 (creation of an ad hoc committee to work on the project) andProvision 08/03 (institutional agreement between CPC and CMC as a first step to the Parliament).9 Besides the occasions indicated in the tables, delegates from both institutions have met in theConference of Speakers of EU Parliaments, Rome, September 22-24 th 2000; Visit of members of theEuropean Parliament to Brazil, June 20th 2001; Workshop La Consulta Parlamentaria, de su concepto
a su prctica, Buenos Aires, September 18th
2003 (declaration reaffirming the decision to create theParliament); I Encuentro de Presidentes de las Cmaras de los Poderes Legislativos de los EstadosPartes del Mercosur, Montevideo, September 22nd 2003 (report from the work group on the creation ofthe Parliament); Workshop Parlamento do Mercosul e Integrao Fronteiria, Foz do Iguau,November 3-4th 2003; Visit of members of the European Parliament to Uruguay and Paraguay,November 21-26th 2005; Visit of members of the European Parliament to Argentina, April 17-22th 2006;Visit of members of the European Parliament to Uruguay and Paraguay and participation in the firstplenary meeting of Parlasur, May 1-8th 2007; Visit of members of the European Parliament toArgentina, March 30th April 4th 2008.10 For instance, Brazilian proposal to an agenda for the institutionalization of the Mercosur Parliament,Porto Alegre, November 9th 2000; Ney Lopes (deputy - Partido da Frente Liberal), Samuel PinheiroGuimares and Jos Botafogo Gonalves, open meeting about FTAA and Mercosur, Braslia,September 9th 2001; Confucio Moura (deputy - Partido do Movimento Democrtico Brasileiro),
ordinary meeting of the Brazilian section of JPC, Braslia, September 18 th 2001; Dr. Rosinha (deputy -Partido dos Trabalhadores), Workshop Parlamento do Mercosul e Integrao Fronteiria, Foz doIguau, November 3-4th 2003. The reference to the European Union when Mercosur is mentioned is
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presented the first written proposals concerning the Parliament, and in 2004 JPC
arrived at a first version of the project of Constitutive Protocol, already mentioned in
the Mercosur Work Program 2004-200611. Before that, in 2002, the Common Market
Council decided to create the Technical Assistance Sector (TAS) within the Mercosur
Secretariat, which would by formed by one specialist from each member state
chosen by public concourse. The Sector should offer juridical and economical
support to Mercosur institutions with the aim to constitute a space of common
reflection about the development and consolidation of the bloc12. Among the four
candidates selected, three had studied regional integration in European universities.
They have actively participated in the processes of discussion and negotiation
concerning the Parliament13.
Committees members expected the approval of the draft Protocol in
the XXVII CMC Meeting in Ouro Preto in December 2004, which would celebrate the
10th anniversary of the Ouro Preto Protocol. But the presidents decided JPC should
pursue the debates on the subject14. A team of specialists and civil servants of
Mercosur and national parliaments was thus formed to technically improve the
proposal in order to support further political discussions15. The Constitutive Protocol
of the Mercosur Parliament was finally approved by CMC in December 200516 and
during 2006 it was gradually ratified in each member state.
also usual in academic sectors and media of all member states.11 JPC Provision 01/04 and CMC Decision 26/03.12 CMC Decision 30/02.13 Notably, TAS has organized seminars with Latin American and European specialists andrepresentatives from national chambers and governments. For instance, Desafos institucionales parael Mercosur: las relaciones entre Estados, instituciones e organizaciones de la sociedad, Montevideo,September 2004 (with Friedrich Ebert Stiftung) and La gobernanza democrtica en el Mercosur,Montevideo, November 2004 (with Konrad Adenauer Stiftung and Universidad Catlica del Uruguay).14
CMC Decision 49/04.15 JPC Provision 03/05.16 CMC Decision 23/05.
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Table I. Interparliamentary Meetings JPC/Mercosur Parliament Delegation for Relationswith South America/Mercosur of the European Parliament
Where WhenEP Presidency invitation Brussels March 1994I Meeting Brussels June 1996Bureau Meeting Florianpolis October 1996II Meeting Brussels November 1998III Meeting Buenos Aires June 2000IV Meeting Strasbourg November 2001Bureau Meeting Madrid May 2002V Meeting Brussels March 2003VI Meeting Strasbourg and Luxembourg February 2004VII Meeting Buenos Aires November 2004
VIII Meeting Brussels April 2005IX Meeting Braslia May 2005X Meeting Montevideo November 2005Meeting Brussels May 2008Meeting to be confirmed Rio de Janeiro September 2008
Table II. Participation of JPC/Mercosur Parliament in Interparliamentary Conferences
European Union Latin AmericaWhere When
X Interparliamentary Conference Seville April 1991
XI Interparliamentary Conference So Paulo May 1993XII Interparliamentary Conference Brussels June 1995XIII Interparliamentary Conference Caracas May 1997XIV Interparliamentary Conference Brussels March 1999XV Interparliamentary Conference Santiago April 2001XVI Interparliamentary Conference Brussels May 2003Meeting of Regional Integration Parliaments Puebla March 2004XVII Interparliamentary Conference Lima June 2005Meeting of Regional Integration Parliaments Trujillo October 2005Meeting of Regional Integration Parliaments Bregenz April 2006I Plenary Session of EUROLAT Brussels December 2007II Plenary Session of EUROLAT Lima April 2008
3.2. The Mercosur Parliament gets up on the wrong side of the bed
These are the words used by the Uruguayan newspaper El
Observador and the website of the Mercosur Parliament itself to refer to the first
plenary session of the new assembly17. The headline is due to the position of political
sectors in Uruguay which petitioned the Supreme Court for the unconstitutionality of17 Available inwww.observa.com.uyand www.parlamentodelmercosur.org, May 7th 2007.
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Parlasur. They argued direct elections for this organ are against the Uruguayan
Constitution, underlining that a political association with bigger countries do not
correspond to the interests of Uruguay. But more than a legal conflict, the situation
issued from a political dissonance between the left-winged majority and the
opposition parties. The ex-president Luis Lacalle (Partido Nacional) affirmed the
conformation of this organ is related to circumstantial political motivations, in an
explicit reference to ideological affinities existent among Mercosur governments18. As
the empirical results show, this point of view derives from a clear-sighted appraisal of
political struggle in the region.
In the end of the 1990s, the negotiations for the Free Trade Area of
the Americas were progressing and were frequently mentioned in national debatesand institutions related to Mercosur. The Brazilian governments sympathy to the idea
was well-known, as well as the incompatibility of FTAA with a stronger Mercosur or
with the agreement Mercosur-EU19. On the other side, the popular mobilization was
substantial: social movements and left-wing parties organized periodic
demonstrations and even an informal national plebiscite which rejected the
agreement with the United States. But to some politicians, the only way to revert the
tendency was the election of a different government. It happened in 2002 with Luiz
Incio Lula da Silva (Partido dos Trabalhadores). At the same time, historical
opposition parties arrived at the government in Argentina and Uruguay, respectively
with Nstor Kirchner (Partido Justicialista) in 2003 and Tabar Vzquez (Frente
Amplia) in 2004. These governments are convergent in the promotion of social
questions, like the fight against hungriness, poverty and inequality. They do not think
only about economic growth, but also in distributing resources20.
Among the team in charge of the foreign policy of his government,
Lula nominated diplomats and politicians who have supported the non-participation of
Brazil in FTAA and who have kept close contacts with other left-wing South American
parties. In an open meeting organized in the Chamber of Deputies in 2001, the
current secretary-general of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs compared the FTAA and
UE models and concluded Mercosur would be the best option if it envisages
18 El Parlamento naci con el pi izquierdo, El Observador, Montevideo, May 7th 2007.19 Samuel Pinheiro Guimares and Jos Botafogo Gonalves (diplomats) and Confucio Moura (deputy
- Partido do Movimento Democrtico Brasileiro), open meeting about FTAA and Mercosur, Braslia,September 9th 2001; Dr. Rosinha (Partido dos Trabalhadores), Cartilha Mercosul um ABC, 2007.20 Luiz Incio Lula da Silva, Tengo mi conciencia tranquila, El Pas, Montevideo, October 1st 2006.
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economic union, free movement of workers, structural funds, supranational
institutions and other European features. Mercosur was also defined as a priority to
the other governments21. In 2005, during the forth Summit of the Americas, Mercosur
countries decided not to continue with the negotiations for the Free Trade Area of the
Americas, refusing to negotiate a deal where the United States do not limit barriers
and subsidies to their agricultural industry. The adhesion of Venezuela to Mercosur
after the reelection of Hugo Chvez (Movimiento V Repblica/Partido Socialista
Unido da Venezuela) in 2006 and the election of Fernando Lugo (Alianza Patritica
para el Cambio) in Paraguay in 2008 may enlarge the distance of the bloc from the
FTAA. In this context, the approximation with the European Union appears as an
alternative to the North American influence through the reinforcement of integration
(Santander, 2008 : 138-139; Tel, 2005 : 185). Mercosur governments seem to
concur to the world viewaccording to which following European Unions steps and
reaching a bi-regional agreement have a strategic importance to the project of
strengthening Mercosur22.
The year of 2003 was decisive in the conformation of Parlasur. It was
when deputies rejected the proposal of a merely decorative Parliament23 and
presidents said a more ambitious idea was possible24. But the consolidation of the
project was postponed to 2005, when, besides Lula and Kirchner, Tabar was in the
presidency. Nonetheless, this broad ideological perspective shared by governments
is framed by their geopolitical and economic interests. If a deep regional integration
process was always desired by Paraguay and Uruguay, the smaller and less
industrialized countries of Mercosur, Argentina and Brazil have been more reluctant.
Their weight in the international arena has been increasing, as well as the
21
Nstor Kirchner, Kirchner assume e faz duro discurso, poca, Rio de Janeiro, May 26th
2003;Gobierno electo y partidos acuerdan la poltica exterior, El Pas, Montevideo, February 4th 2005;Canciller afirma que Uruguay priorizar el Mercosur y la Comunidad Sudamericana, La Repblica,March 1st 2005; Dr. Rosinha (deputy - Partido dos Trabalhadores), ordinary meeting of the Braziliansection of JPC, Braslia, April 28th 2005; Tabar Vazquez, Presidente uruguayo invita a pasesrabes a aumentar su comercio con la regin, La Repblica, Montevideo, May 11th 2005; TabarVazquez, Presidente de Uruguay pide mayor voz para su pas y Paraguay en el Mercosur, El Pas,Montevideo, May 13th 2005; Marco Aurlio Garcia (special assistant of the Brazilian presidency forforeign affairs), Asesor del presidente brasileo reconoce reclamos del Uruguay por asimetras, LaRepblica, Montevideo, March 2nd 2007.22 Danilo Astori (Uruguayan minister of economy), Uruguay propuso que el Mercosur instrumentearmonizacin tributaria, El Pas, Montevideo, June 19th 2005.23 Roberto Conde (Uruguayan senator Frente Amplia), Nace el Parlamento del Mercosur: Estamos
ante a un cambio de poca, La Repblica, Montevideo, May 6th 2007.24 Alfredo Atanasof (Argentinean deputy Partido Justicialista), verbatim report of the III PlenarySession of Parlasur, Montevideo, June 25th 2007.
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possibilities to see their demands listened in bilateral or multilateral commercial
negotiations. They want Mercosur insofar as they can at times put it aside to protect
their economy or to maximize their individual international pretensions. At the time of
Parlasur creation, Brazil was sending troops to Haiti to coordinate the humanitarian
mission of United Nations and fostering the debate about a permanent seat in the
Security Council, which raised assumptions about its leadership intentions in South
America. Argentina had publicly disapproved the Uruguayan governments decision
to install cellulose industries close to the Uruguay River, and border Argentinean
citizens started to block bridges linking both countries in order to obstruct the way of
people and goods into Uruguay. Among other bilateral arrangements, Brazil and
Argentina signed, out of the Mercosur ambit, the Mechanism for Competitive
Adaptation, which allows the taxation of certain commodities if national productive
sectors are in risk. This behavior clearly disliked Paraguay and Uruguay, which
entailed negotiations for bilateral free trade agreements with the United States
showing the same disregard for Mercosur treaties as the bigger partners. In this
conflictive scenario, the plan concerning the Parliament rose as a focal point, an
option that reached the assent of all parts despite their different motivations. Indeed,
Brazil and Argentina found in the idea a way to demonstrate they were still interested
in Mercosur without deepening the economic integration25; Uruguay and Paraguay
expect the assembly to be able to compel their neighbors to invest more in the
regional project (Caetano et al, 2006).
This last prospect also motivated some deputies, civil servants and
specialists who were responsible for detailing the Parliament proposal. The general
knowledge about the European Parliaments role in pushing forward the European
integration, in controlling the executive organs and in calling the attention of citizens
supported a belief about a cause-effect relationship between the Mercosur
Parliament and the reinforcement of integration and democracy in the bloc26. This
causal belief stimulated the use of the EP model as a road map which offered
strategies to guide the action. Regional integration may be driven by the25 Rgis Arslanian (Brazilian embassador to ALADI and Mercosur), Banco del Sur podra ser el primerpaso para una moneda comn en el Mercosur, La Repblica, Montevideo, May 28th 2007; SamuelPinheiro Guimares (secretary-general of the Brazilian ministry of foreign affairs), Opinin Cmose define el Mercosur actual?, El Pas, Montevideo, December 10th 2007; Srgio Abreu (ex-ministerof foreign affairs of Uruguay), Opinin Cmo se define el Mercosur actual?, El Pas, Montevideo,
December 10th 2007.26 Oscar Casal (former secretary of JPC), Parlamento del Mercosur: sin levantar vuelo, MercosurABC, Buenos Aires, May 9th 2008.
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convergence of interests (Malamud and Schmitter, 2007 : 9), but in this case ideas
pointed out where to drive.
The European world view is manifest in another policy choice from
the same period: the creation of the Mercosur Convergence Fund (FOCEM)27
. TheFund should finance programs to promote competitiveness and social cohesion of
the smaller and less developed economies, besides supporting the institutions and
the reinforcement of integration. It meets ancient demands from Paraguay and
Uruguay concerning the consideration of asymmetries within the bloc. Along with the
Parliament, FOCEM also responds to some critics from the European Commission in
regards to the limits of the economic integration. That is, instead of improving free
trade or legislation efficacy
28
, Mercosur opts for indirect measures which are able toindicate a relative commitment to the project in order to continue the negotiation of
cooperation and commercial agreements.
The EU not only instigates more integration in Mercosur but also
finances it. According to the Commission, the Union is by far the largest supplier of
assistance to the region29. According to Romano Prodi, Mercosur is a political and
economic priority to the Commission not only because of strategic reasons, but also
for cultural and historical motivations. The European Union will always support theregional integration in Mercosur as an important source of prosperity to our people
and as a contribution to peace, security and sustainable development in Latin
America30. In the Regional Strategy Paper 2002-2006, the EC presented an
indicative contribution of 48 millions to support financial, technical and economic
cooperation within Mercosur, including broad institutionalization and specific aid to
the Parliamentary Committee. The report clarifies that although Mercosur is inspired
by the EU, the progress and the modalities of the institutional architecture are a
sovereign right of the states participating in Mercosur. For this very reason, our co-
operation in this area has to be particularly sensitive, respectful and always at
27 CMC Decisions 45/04, 18/05 and 17/06.28 These were areas criticized by Pascal Lamy, former European Commissioner for Trade, and KarlFalkenberg, former Director for Free Trade Agreements, Trade Directorate-General of the EuropeanCommission, who said Mercosur risked to become an incomplete pregnancy or more a vision than areality. Funcionario europeo remarca demoras en armado legal del Mercosur, La Nacin, BuenosAires, March 15th 2004; Editorial Brasil cedeu, mas reforou o Mercosul, Valor Econmico, SoPaulo, December 18th 2003.29
Available inwww.ec.europa.eu/external_relations/mercosur/.30 European Commission. Unin Europea Mercosur: una asociacin para el futuro. Montevideo, May2002.
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request of Mercosur31. This technical and financial aid was thus formally requested
by JPC as a continuum of the former accord32. In 2005 both institutions celebrated a
convention to support the installation of the Mercosur Parliament, which dedicated
900.000 to the activities of the new assembly. According to JPC, this project would
allow Mercosur and EU to work together and to benefit from the mutual experience
in terms of parliamentary integration33. In 2007 EC defined Mercosur
institutionalization as the first priority to the Regional Indicative Programme
2007-2013, which assured this area 10% of the 50 millions dedicated to cooperation
with Mercosur. This cooperation is closely related to institutional mimesis, as JPC
was under permanent pressure of its main resource supplier.
In a broader sense, Mercosur has been influenced by the EuropeanUnion since its creation, as both parts searched for contacts and agreements from
the beginning of the 1990s on. In addition, EU may shadow other examples because
it is certainly the most significant and far-reaching attempt at regionalism (Malamud
and Schmitter, 2007 : 4). The European model has always been more or less present
in the imaginary of elites who conduct Mercosur. Ideas related to this single
experience were thus available at the moment of conceiving a parliament (Weir, 1989
: 54).
UEs policies to foster regional cooperation are recently connected
with an essay to export values worldwide through the emergence of a soft
diplomacy combining economic resources with political ambitions (Petiteville, 2005 :
128). In fact, democracy, the rule of law, human rights and fundamental freedoms are
expressly mentioned by the Maastricht Treaty among the goals of the Common
Foreign and Security Policy. The promotion of respect for human rights was included
in EUs foreign policy agenda in the 1970s, while democracy and good governance
became a clear objective after the 1990s. Some reasons for such a policy are the
belief that these principles are desirable ends in themselves and they can further
social and economic development (Smith, 2008 : 151-152). These motivations are
explicit in the speech of Srgio Sousa Pinto, the chairman of the Delegation for
relations with Mercosur of the EP, during the first plenary session of Parlasur. He
31 European Commission, External Relations Directorate-General, Mercosur Unit. Mercosur European Community Strategy Paper 2002-2006, Brussels, 2005. p. 26.32
JPC Provision 10/03.33 JPC Recommendation 01/06 (Informe de actividades del primer semestre de 2006 de la Agenda deInstalacin del Parlamento del Mercosur).
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stated that common values like the perspective of an international order based on
democratic regulation, international law and fundamental rights unite Europeans and
Latin Americans. The deputy also affirmed EU has contributed with regionalism
worldwide for believing in its advantages and needs Mercosur to construct a more
balanced international order34.
Democracy in particular has constituted more a reactive than a
proactive policy in the European Union (Smith, 2008 : 168), differently from the
promotion of regional integration. The transmission of the democratic values abroad
remains an ad hoc policy with a low priority relative to more traditional foreign policy
goals, although adherence to these principles serves as one of the prerequisites of
the EU membership (Olsen, 2002 : 313). More than that, the construction ofEuropean integration itself is based on democracy: the European Convention for the
Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms was adopted in 1950 by all
members of the Council of Europe. The influence of this idea in the Southern Cone is
thus due to the passive role of the European model combined with an active behavior
of European deputies in advancing the parliamentary example. Indeed, in 1998
Mercosur parties signed the Ushuaia Protocol, which recognizes democracy as a
condition to take part in the bloc and establishes measures to be taken in case of
rupture of democratic institutionality in any member state or associated member.
Although the commitment with democracy had already been declared by presidents
during Las Leas summit of 1992, the risk of coup dtat in Paraguay in 1996 led
CMC to state more emphatically this principle and the consequences of its violation.
The Interregional Framework Cooperation Agreement signed with the European
Union in 1995 also comprises a democratic clause. The Constitutive Protocol of the
Mercosur Parliament refers to the Ushuaia Protocol and, in consequence, connects
the new institution with democratic standards introduced in integration processes by
Europe.
The EU has been lately conceived as a civilian power which would
influence other regions rather by the means of its socio-economic model and its
peace and human rights principles than through its military capacity (Tel, 2007). On
one hand, the European way may effectively represent an alternative for regulating
globalization in order to minimize its negative effects. On the other, EUs policies for
34 Verbatim report of the I Plenary Session of Parlasur, Montevideo, May 7th 2007.
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transferring its model seeks to create enlarged markets on terms that are favorable to
its own industry (Lenz, 2008 : 8). That is, regionalism exportation may reflect the
attachment of EU to its values and the desire to promote a multipolar international
order to further development worldwide, but it indicates as well the intention to
stimulate trade between Europe and the new integrated regions. That is why the EU
needs to have important economic interests at stake in order to get involved in the
integrative efforts of other countries (Lenz, 2008 : 7).
The problem is the European model is hardly exportable. As the
consociational approach reveals, the European integration is characterized by
multiple layers of conflicting interests and a great variety of actors which implies its
reproduction involves more than institutional engineering and cooperation amongelites (Costa and Foret, 2005 : 502-503). In fact, it would require similar historical and
cultural conditions which based the project of a unified Europe. Additionally, the
European supranational political system is relatively desirable. Its limitations rely on
the gap between the failing model of the nation state - which it cannot duplicate -
and a logic of international organization which lacks any real popular legitimacy
(Costa and Foret, 2005 : 513). As a consequence, the transplant of single institutions
born in the European Union into Mercosur encloses a double risk. First, copying an
institution out of its context will probably produce effects different from the ones
verified in the original case. Second, the expected effects may derive from an
idealization of the model due to the ignorance of its real conditions.
In the case of Parlasur, both risks seem to be at stake. The latter is
reflected in contradictory declarations of authorities about the outcomes of the
European example and the role of the European Parliament. It has been used to
justify as well as to oppose the FTAA, to defend the reinforcement of integration and
to refrain it. Even the general idea, according to which Parlasur will strengthen
democracy in Mercosur and thus contribute to integration, suffers from lack of precise
information about the means which facilitated or limited this result in Europe. It is
early to infer if this outcome is to be confirmed, but empirical analysis show
significative differences in the organization of both assemblies and in the behavior of
the members, which is occasioned exactly by historical, economic and political
disparities between European Union and Mercosur. Therefore, these procedural
asymmetries do not tend to produce similar political effects. For instance, in spite of a
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general inspiration in the rules of procedure of the European Parliament, the
organization of Parlasur committees is closer to national parliaments than to the EP;
during plenary sessions, deputies seat according to nationality, not according
ideological affinity; the only organized political group is formed just by Uruguayan
deputies; bureaucratic work in the secretariat is marked by national differences; the
bureau changes every six months, according to the temporal presidency of Mercosur;
and parliamentary powers are not explored in almost two years, Parlasur has not
proposed any bills to CMC or national parliaments nor has discussed Mercosur
budget or addressed questions to decisional organs. It means for now the European
Parliament remains more an abstract model than a daily source of inspiration. It
influenced the creation of Parlasur, but so far its process of institutionalization has
corresponded to Mercosur practices (national divisions) combined with national
chambers traditions (legislative power as secondary).
Beyond these implications of institutional mimesis, Parlasur faces a
more complicated one. Some of the actions carried out reveal a critical attitude
towards its model. At times, parliamentarians exalt the European example in the
same speech they condemn Europe for the colonization process and other historical
and contemporary events. In addition, institutional manifestations have not spared
certain European policies. In June 2008, the plenary voted a declaration in favor of
the human rights of migrants, which firmly disapproves the Return Directive of the
European Union35. The document asks the European Parliament to review, based on
Europes civilian values, this mistaken and unfruitful decision which dishonors the
image of the European Union. In the context of Doha Round, deputies also
manifested their support to the position of Mercosur states in negotiating an
agreement that could assure agricultural access in developed markets and correct
the serious asymmetries that characterize international trade36. This behavior does
not necessarily imply a structural questioning of the model, but it certainly reflects
economic and ideological dissonances circumstantial or not. More than that, it
means international issues that affect integration processes are becoming to be
discussed in the assembly. But this situation can denote not only the increasing
interest of deputies for new subjects but also the weakness of the assembly, insofar
as it is simpler to find a consensus to comment on Europe than to propose measures
35 Parlasur Declaration 10/08.36 Parlasur Declaration 11/08.
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to improve the common market. This kind of international output is not enough to
make Parlasur comparable to the European Parliament if deputies do not work on the
inputs. In this case, isomorphism risks inducing the model to offer a false mirror to
the new institution. Besides commenting EPs decisions and searching to influence
the external relations of the bloc, Mercosur deputies face the challenge of identifying
their internal limits and focusing on how to surpass them.
Conclusion
The paper intended to analyze the role of ideas conceived within the
European Union in the creation of Parlasur. The hypothesis according to which
European conceptions of integration and democracy had a special influence in the
process that led to the rise of the Mercosur assembly is confirmed. It is possible to
infer that integration prevailed upon democracy in this institutional mimesis, although
both arguments are necessary to explain the Parliament. That is, from an
international perspective, the rise of Parlasur is more connected to a general view of
integration than to a concern for democracy, which is also due to the active behavior
of EU in promoting regional cooperation. But both ideas concurred to the focal point
which conducted to the conformation of a representative assembly. Integration alone
would not be enough to explain why a parliament was created at the expense of
alternative institutions or mechanisms.
Yet further research is required to evaluate more concretely the
relations between EP and Parlasur and to identify additional elements that converged
to the building of the latter, the influence of European values remains clear. Ideas
coming from more developed systems were always common in the construction of
South American economic, political and legal arrangements. Dependent countries
may opt for copying existent models than creating their own way so they can better fit
in the global economic system. This situation can indicate ideas have a greater
potential of explanation in comparisons center-periphery than they usually have in
analyses between developed countries or regions.
Furthermore, the current political orientation of Mercosur national
governments contributed to an approximation with the European Union. But it does
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not necessarily mean the European model is considered a left-wing alternative; it is
above all an alternative to the United States influence. Integration is commonly a way
of facing domination risks: the European Community also represented a response to
the Soviet menace. But in the case of Mercosur, it seems useful to question at what
extend the region is choosing to replace one form of imperialism for another. Are the
European intentions towards South America comparable to the North American ones
after the colonial period? Or is Europe, as a civilian power, capable of encouraging
horizontal and fruitful forms of cooperation among economically unequal regions?
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