Mercosur Member States Research Articles

The Mercosur Socio-Labour Declaration and the importance of judicial activism

Given the fragmentary and uneven development of Mercosur, the adoption of the Mercosur Socio-Labour Declaration has been a bold attempt to protect workers’ fundamental rights within a regional trade bloc. It was first adopted in 1998 and then substantially revisited in 2015. This article explores how Mercosur bodies and, particularly, national judges and their activism have circumvented the current intergovernmental institutional framework to consider the Socio-Labour Declaration as a justiciable instrument. This has allowed workers and citizens to rely upon it to challenge domestic legislations and protect their fundamental rights in the workplace. This piece concludes that an already overdue revision should not only reform the legal nature of the Socio-Labour, which should become a protocol to the Treaty of Asuncion, but should also regulate two crucial areas that are already shaping the Mercosur Member States’ labour markets, namely: platform work, and climate change with a particular focus on green jobs and just transition policies.

Mercosur at 30: political ideologies and (de)legitimation strategies

Abstract Mercosur celebrated its 30th anniversary in 2021 in a situation of severe stress, in which the idea of rolling it back from a customs union towards a free trade area was discussed in polarized terms, raising the question about its legitimacy. This article analyses the legitimation strategies pursued by Mercosur member states' presidents and regional bureaucrats to build, maintain, defend and enhance the belief among relevant audiences that the regional organization is legitimate. It focuses on three critical moments in which Mercosur was the object of public debate, namely, the Brazilian currency devaluation in 1999, the accession of Venezuela in 2012, and the current proposal of ‘flexibilization’, and, drawing on secondary literature and qualitative content analysis, argues that the origins of Mercosur agents' discursive legitimation strategies are their political ideologies. Given the strong role of presidents and lack of stronger regional institutions and leadership, Mercosur is left hostage to domestic electoral cycles and vulnerableto undemocratic trends of governments in power.

Latin American Experience of Paradiplomacy: The Case of Mercocities

At present, the nature and scope of paradiplomacy vary depending on the level of political activeness of the regions, local challenges and the willingness of both states and sub-national entities to implement paradiplomacy strategies. Latin America, taken as an object of study, is no exception. Over the past three decades, Latin America has gained considerable experience of interaction at the level of cities and sub-national regions. The aim of the research is to identify the key features and problems that shape the development of paradiplomacy in South America, using Mercociudades (Mercocities) as an example. This network includes cities of MERCOSUR member states, while remaining open to other cities. Mercociudades might be regarded as the largest and most influential actor of that nature, whose aim is to develop regional units. Relying on case study, document analysis, comparative analysis and SWOT technique, the authors reveal some problems of institutional and organizational nature, differences in legal frameworks of different actors and irrelevance of separate Mercociudades projects and structures for tackling common challenges. Many of the shortcomings of Mercociudades lie in the very nature of the network, determined by its structure and the policies of MERCOSUR member states. At the same time, it is argued that the Mercociudades network can be considered one of the most advanced paradiplomacy cases. Its experience is relatively successful, contributing to the economic, social and political development of the member cities and states concerned. The research is based on official documents and respectful academic sources.

Differentiated integration in MERCOSUR: Risks and opportunities for the association with the European Union

Asymmetries within MERCOSUR member states and vulnerability to financial crises forced the adoption of measures to facilitate flexibility. Differentiated integration was designed to handle centrifugal forces while preserving sovereignty and avoiding the paralysis that can result from a decisionmaking process that requires the consensus of all member states. The asymmetries not only affect the internal dynamics, but should also be taken into account in external relations and were a key issue in the negotiation of the association agreement signed with the EU in 2019.

Food Security Measures and Labor Regulations in the EU-MERCOSUR Agreement: An Overview of the Legal Challenges

In June 2019, the European Union and Mercosur reached a political agreement in order to sign a comprehensive free trade agreement (FTA), which aims to increase interregional trade and to further develop cooperation in non-commercial areas, such as food security and labor regulations. The EU has a normative power through which it intends to export its values and standards. Upon the ratification of this agreement, MERCOSUR and its Member States will certainly need to reform their legal orders so as to align themselves with the food security international standards such as the International Union for the Protection of New Plant Varieties. It may also have an impact upon intellectual property regulations. Labor standards constitute another key aspect of the non-commercial interests of this agreement. In order to avoid social dumping, the EU may require MERCOSUR Member States to ratify ILO Conventions such as the 87 – which has not been ratified by Brazil yet – in order to guarantee a level playing field. Since the final text is currently being discussed, the impact of this agreement will largely depend upon the political will of both parties.

COVID-19 THE DUTY TO PROVIDE ACCESS TO HEALTH IN MERCOSUR

In the global pandemic environment caused by COVID-19, the fulfillment of the duty of providing access to health becomes a challenge, especially for the developing countries in Mercosur. The unpredictability spread of the disease, associated with the costs of providing access to health make the task even more difficult to be implemented individually. This reinforces the need for a joint effort by Mercosur member states in order to face the pandemic. Thereafter, the hypothetical deductive method and bibliographic review will be used in this article. The conclusion is that, especially at the present moment when the problems are global, Mercosur institutions cannot fail to act on behalf of the needy.

Analysis of the Procedure for the Recognition and Execution of Foreign Arbitral Awards in MERCOSUR

This research considers the current situation for the settlement of investment disputes in MERCOSUR member states. To achieve greater results, the current international legislation has established principles and a broad range of procedures that must be implemented on the trade bloc member states regarding the recognition and execution of foreign arbitral awards. This study applies a descriptive qualitative method. The findings of this study show that there are still some obstacles for the development of investment arbitration, despite its recognition in the current legislations. In this sense this work recommends harmonizing the legal procedures for the institution of arbitration and implementing a Supranational Arbitration Court inside MERCOSUR to increase and make effective the institution of international commerce in the region.

Overview of dengue in the MERCOSUR Member States, 1991-2015Panorama da dengue nos Estados Membros do Mercosul (1991-2015)

RESUMENObjetivoEn la actualidad, el virus del dengue constituye un fenómeno endémico que azota la región del Mercosur. El objetivo de esta investigación es elaborar un diagnóstico sobre la situación epidemiológica causada por el dengue en los Estados miembros y asociados del Mercosur.MétodosSe utilizaron datos estadísticos —tasas de morbilidad por dengue estimadas para el período 1980-2015, y especialmente del período 1991-2015—, junto con un corpus de leyes sanitarias, comerciales, laudos, informes ejecutivos y bibliografía específica.ResultadosSe observó que, a excepción de Chile y Uruguay, los países asociados o miembros del Mercosur —principalmente Brasil, que exhibe la mayor incidencia mundial de casos de dengue— necesitan identificar los factores que favorecen el aumento de la propagación de la endemia.ConclusionesEste breve panorama sobre los Estados miembros del Mercosur en el período 1991-2015 se fundamenta en datos macroestructurales que ponderan y, al mismo tiempo, representan el sumatorio de los cuatro elementos establecidos por la OMS y la OPS para el control del dengue: la voluntad política de los Gobiernos, la coordinación intersectorial, la participación de la comunidad y el fortalecimiento de las leyes sanitarias nacionales.

Elementos para revisar competencias en materia de protección de datos en los sistemas estadísticos de los Estados miembros del MERCOSUR

Este trabajo tiene el propósito de evaluar el riesgo en el uso de datos estadísticos y administrativos con fines no-estadísticos en los sistemas oficiales de estadísticas de los Estados miembros del Mercosur. El análisis principal se basa en un corpus jurídico de normas administrativas específicas de Argentina, Bolivia, Brasil, Paraguay, Uruguay y Venezuela. La investigación concluye que el riesgo existe debido a que los organismos de seguridad de los Estados considerados integran los sistemas estadísticos de todos los países examinados.

O direito à educação de qualidade no Mercosul

objective of the research is to analyze the right to education based on indicators of educational quality in the Mercosur countries (Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay and Venezuela). This is one of the measured results of the Doctoral Thesis titled The Right to Education in Mercosur member countries: a comparative study. In order to facilitate the achievement of the proposed objective, a qualitative bibliographical and documentary research was carried out. documentary source consisted of the reports of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), analyzing the public expenditure on education and the quality index of education of the members of the bloc. In addition, the discussion was based on the comparison and comparison of the data of the educational indicators of the Mercosur member states with the literature of the area. In spite of the fact that the countries of the bloc have in the last decades shown the expansion of investments and also the coverage of vacancies for basic education, this growth was not linked to quality, with the exception of Argentina and Uruguay, which are the countries with the educational indicators and are among the best placed, if we compare the other Latin American countries as well. This framework presents itself as an obstacle not only to the social, political and economic development of the countries, but also to the consolidation of an effective process of regional integration within Mercosur.

The Evolution of Mercosur Behaving as an International Coalition, 1991-2012

As is well known, Mercosur was conceived as an economic bloc. However, over time, it has also behaved as an international coalition. This article aims to trace this process in the period 1991 to 2012 via two indicators: the voting behaviour of the four original Mercosur member states in the United Nations General Assembly, and positions adopted on international political issues in the communiques emanating from the bi-annual Mercosur presidential summits. The period under review will be divided into two further periods, namely 1991-2002 and 2003-2012.

Regulation of surface and subterranean fresh water in the MERCOSUR regional integration

This work discusses the regulatory standardization among countries that are party to MERCOSUR. This standardization forms the legal and institutional framework for maintaining important and strategic water resources, which require such regulation in order to be preserved and protected for present and future generations. Due to the lack of general legislation relating to MERCOSUR’s water resources, it was necessary to study the main multilateral agreements among the MERCOSUR countries, such as the Amazon Cooperation Treaty and the River Plate Basin Treaty relating to surface water, and also the legal points included in a recent joint statement of the presidents of the Mercosur States regarding the Guarani Aquifer, which is an important resource for current and future generations of the MERCOSUR. The survey was developed using the hermeneutical method, based upon surveys and analysis of international legislation involving MERCOSUR member states, multilateral treaties relating to transboundary waters and groundwater zones and also included a search of bibliographic materials, books, journals, thematic maps, information and documents available on the Internet. The combination of the sparse legal rules covers most legal relationships between MERCOSUR member states relating to water.

Опыт интеграции и гармонизации евразийского и латиноамериканского правового пространства: компаративный анализ

The article deals with the formation of harmonized legal framework as part of integration associations of Eurasia and Latin America. The article states that harmonization and unification of private international law is of particular importance for achieving the objectives of economic integration. The authors analyze the methods of harmonization of law in Mercosur. Harmonization of law is achieved in various ways, for example, through unification of law which permits to develop a uniform enactment for all States. Meanwhile, the method of simple convergence, coordination of national legislation of the Mercosur member states is used. The authors distinguish between the sources of primary and secondary law of the Eurasian Economic Union. The authors conclude that unlike the Commonwealth of Independent States where unification and harmonization cover private and public law, the convergence of legal systems of the member States of the Eurasian Economic Union deals mainly with public law issues. Along with strict public law regulation within the Eurasian Economic Union, the authors propose the formation of flexible private law rules contained in the soft law, and the Principles of the Eurasian private law can serve the basis for that. The authors note that one of the objectives of harmonization and unification of the law of integration associations is the formation of the community law – an autonomous legal system which is applied on the basis of the direct action principles, direct application and the supremacy over domestic law. Following the results of study the authors conclude that the majority of the integration associations in Latin America and Eurasia are only on the way toward the community law formation.

What type of teachers do we intend to train? An analysis of teacher profiles in MERCOSUR curricula

Over the last decades, teachers have often been identified as ‘key’ players for the improvement of education systems. The successive waves of reform taking place in Latin America since the 1990s have aimed at initial and continuous teacher training. The main changes intended to improve the quality and lengthen the duration of initial teacher training; additionally, the variety of teacher training courses was widened and diversified. This work focuses on the teacher training curricula currently in force for the MERCOSUR member states (Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay). Special attention will be paid to the definitions of the profile that is intended for future teachers, as it is believed that this dimension makes it possible to reveal the different types of expected performance, which will allow us to move towards the dimension of the educational practices. The results obtained from the comparative analysis indicate that the abilities/competences put forth by the four countries are relevant and complementary with each other. Studies of this kind are a step forward in the definition of common policies for MERCOSUR countries aimed at strengthening and articulating teacher training and, specifically, at recognizing teacher qualifications and favouring mobility among countries.

Does Mercosur Possess Comparative Advantage?

The researchers investigated comparative advantage in MERCOSUR. The main objective was to find out whether MERCOSUR member states possess comparative advantage. Balassa's Revealed Comparative Advantage (RCA) technique was applied. Brazil was found to have comparative advantage in 674 product lines, Argentina in 518 product lines, Paraguay in 485 product lines, Uruguay 312 product lines and Venezuela in 83 product lines. The researchers concluded that MERCOSUR indeed has comparative advantage although the number of products in which it has comparative advantage is very limited. They therefore recommended that MERCOSUR should consider admitting more members in order to improve the number of the products in which comparative advantage may be revealed.

Perspectives on Mercosur borders and border spaces: Implications for border theories

This dossier invites the Journal of Borderlands Studies (JBS) readership to explore Southern Common Market (Mercosur in Spanish and Mercosul in Portuguese-Brazilian) borders and border spaces. During the second half of the 1980s, Brazil and Argentina start negotiations related to regional integration. These talks shortly result in the foundation of the Mercosur. Thus, in 1991, Argentina and Brazil, along with Paraguay and Uruguay, sign the Mercosur founding treaty, the Treaty of Asuncion, with the ultimate objective of creating a common market. In order to achieve this goal, the Mercosur member states consider that a free trade area and a customs union need to be established, as well as the four freedoms of a common market, i.e. free movement of goods, services, persons and capital (Article 1). Subsequent treaties amend and consolidate this initial agreement. Nevertheless, the original proposed schedule (1991-1994) cannot be completed, confining the Mercosur to a free trade area with an imperfect customs union. However, these international treaties do not limit the Mercosur to a free trade bloc: the institutions of the Mercosur also reveal an intergovernmental organization that coordinates joint macroeconomic and sectoral public policies, implying a community integration purpose (Vervaele 2005, 390-391). Due to this dual facet, the enlargement and deepening of the Mercosur is progressing in several ways. First, neighbouring countries are linked to the Mercosur, as future permanent members (Bolivia and Venezuela), as associate members (Chile, Peru, Colombia and Ecuador), or as observer (Mexico). Second, agreements are signed with third parties, e.g. a free trade agreement with Israel in 2007. Third, institutions are reinforced, for instance through the creation of a permanent dispute resolution mechanism in 2002; besides, members of the Parliament of the Mercosur will be directly elected for the first time in 2010. Finally, in order to counterbalance the asymmetries of the bloc, the Mercosur members create in 2005 a structural fund, known as the Fondo para la Convergencia Estructural del Mercosur (FOCEM).

The MERCOSUR Settlement of Disputes System

AbstractThe establishment of a common market for the southern cone (Mercosur) States was scheduled to be accomplished by the end of 1994. During the transition period, member States were to adopt general rules of origin, a system for the settlement of disputes and safeguards clauses, as contained in the respective annexes to the Asunción Treaty. This article describes the subsequent methods for the settlement of disputes among the Mercosur member States.

La relance du Mercosur. Ouro Preto II ou le temps des réformes politiques

A Fresh Start for Mercosur: Ouro Preto II, or the Onset of Political Reforms Despite recurrent trade disputes among member states, the political aspect of Mercosur is making headway. The arrival in power of progressive forces in favor of integration in Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay has enabled the integration process, severely hampered by Argentina’s economic crisis in 2001, to get a fresh start. The Mercosur Parliament, set up by the 27th Mercosur summit on December 17, 2004, to be inaugurated in 2006, will probably prove not to be the instrument for a democratization of the integration process imagined by the Technical Secretariat, a veritable “political entrepreneur” created within Mercosur in 2003, but it will enable politicians of the various Mercosur member states to participate more fully and will especially breathe new life into the political aspect of integration.

Jurisdição internacional no âmbito do MERCOSUL

Analysing the Common Market, it is natural that legal conflicts assume dimensions that surpass physical borders between nations, and that the solution to such conflicts must be searched quickly, to integrate jurisdictions of diverse States. And with this mentality MERCOSUR's Member States had firmed the Protocol of Buenos Aires, that regulates the functioning of an international jurisdiction. However, an effective and advantageous international jurisdiction depend on the supranationality of the MERCOSUR’s institutions.

Explaining Latin American economic integration: the case of Mercosur

This paper develops and tests explanations of the motivations that drove the process of economic integration known as Mercosur (Southern Cone Common Market). The hypotheses tested are those that focus on elite considerations of geo-political, political economic and domestic politics factors when deciding to participate in international economic integration. We find that policy elite in Mercosur member states have been primarily driven by domestic political considerations when they have furthered the integration process. This leads to the conclusion that Mercosur is not likely to develop the kinds of supranational governance institutions present in the European Union, as policy elites in Mercosur member states desire to maintain a great deal of domestic policy autonomy.