Mercosur
- Full members
- Associated States
- Negotiations on Association
Montevideo, Uruguay
- Portuguese
- Spanish
One trillion U.S. $
March 26, 1991 (Treaty of Asunción )
Mercosur ( Spanish pronunciation: [ ˌ meɾ.ko.suɾ ] ) is the abbreviated name for the South American Common Market. The Spanish meaning for the abbreviation is Southern Common Market (Common Market of the South). The Portuguese also official name is Mercosul for Mercado Comum do Sul, to spoken in Paraguay Guaraní is Ñemby Ñemuha the common name.
Mercosur was by signing the Treaty of Asunción on 26 March 1991. It is a single market with more than 260 million people (as of 2006), which currently covers 12.8 million square kilometers, which is about 72 % of the area of South America and 56 % of the area of Latin America equivalent. The Mercosur generates a gross domestic product of about one trillion U.S. dollars (about 75 percent of the total GDP of Latin America ), in foreign trade, the value of exports about 200 billion U.S. dollars and imports for about 130 billion dollars.
Member States and Associated States
Mercosur members are:
- Argentina Argentina
- Brazil Brazil
- Paraguay Paraguay
- Uruguay Uruguay
- Venezuela Venezuela ( Signed on 4 July 2006 for accession and joined at the summit in Rio Mercosur on 31 July 2012.)
Associated States are:
- Chile Chile ( 1996)
- Bolivia Bolivia ( 1997, submitted an application for full membership )
- Peru Peru ( 2003)
- Colombia Colombia (2004)
- Ecuador Ecuador (2004, presented in December 2011 to apply for full membership)
With Mexico, Mercosur, on 8 July 2004 on talks on an association.
Bolivia has repeatedly expressed an interest in full membership since the inauguration of Evo Morales ( early 2006 ). However, the realization of this project depends firstly on the survival of the Andean Community ( CAN), the other from the output of a conflict with Brazil from, is related to the nationalization of the gas and oil production in this country.
In contrast, Uruguay has been questioned in 2006 in the wake of the conflict with Argentina over the construction of pulp mills its own membership. The country is encouraged by the statutes of the Mercosur in his room for maneuver, especially in terms restricted to independent free trade agreements with other countries.
As a result of the events surrounding the dismissal of President Fernando Lugo in June 2012 Paraguay was temporarily suspended up to the local elections in April 2013.
Member of Mercosur can only be democratic states according to the Protocolo de Ushuaia sobre Compromisos Democrático (Protocol of Ushuaia on democracy ). This regulation is intended to prevent the Latin American countries again fall back into dictatorship.
The uniform blue passports of the Member States shall - similar to labeling in the EU Member States - on the name of the state the word " Mercosur " on Brazilian passports " Mercosul ".
Objectives
The objectives of the Mercosur can be found in the preamble of the Treaty of Asunción. The Treaty includes among its objectives of economic and political integration process:
These objectives are to be achieved, according to Article 1 of the Treaty of Asunción through the creation of a common market until 31 December 1994, which has the following properties:
- The free movement of goods, services and factors of production between Member States; including through the elimination of tariffs, non- tariff trade barriers and any other measures having equivalent effect;
- The establishment of a common external tariff and the adoption of a common commercial policy towards third countries or groupings of states and the coordination of positions in regional and international economic forums;
- The coordination of macroeconomic and sectoral policies between the Member States, which include: the foreign trade policy, agricultural policy, industrial policy, fiscal, monetary, exchange rate, and capital market policy, service policy, customs policy, transport policy, communication policy and other policies to which they agree to provide adequate conditions of competition between Member States; and
- The commitment of Member States to harmonize their legislation in the areas concerned in order to achieve a strengthening of the integration process.
After the development of Mercosur was in the late 1990s lost momentum and stalled by the Member States as a " Relanzamiento del Mercosur " (restart Mercosur ) designated new stage of regional integration was ushered in 2000. This has the objective of strengthening the customs union inwards and outwards.
The Governments of the Member States have emphasized the convergence and coordination of macroeconomics. So one wants to achieve a sustainable fiscal and monetary policies in order to guarantee the stability of prices.
Furthermore, the Mercosur is to work intensively with the following sub-areas after this reboot:
- Access to markets
- Acceleration of customs clearance
- Incentives in the areas of investment, production, export
- Common customs tariff
- Competition Law
- Resolution of disputes
- Implementation of the Mercosur law in the Member States
- Strengthening of the institutional structure
- External relations.
Problems of enlargement and deepening
In the context of enlargement and the deepening of the State Union, a host of problems that hinder these two processes.
- On the one hand there are the traditional rivalries, such as between Brazil and Argentina ( this also breaks in the debate on the reform of the United Nations back on ) or between Chile and Bolivia ( access to the Pacific, saltpeter ).
- Furthermore, there is in Mercosur with Brazil, a country that could dominate the others due to its size. This makes it difficult to reduce the impact of the above rivalry with Argentina.
- A main point of conflict is currently the lack of strategy in dealing with the U.S. ( FTAA ), which since the general membership of Venezuela - possibly at a later time also that of Bolivia - still expected to intensify.
- Members of Mercosur, it is prohibited to enter into with third countries bilateral free trade agreements. This results in Uruguay and Paraguay to considerations emerge from the confederation again.
Organs
The Treaty of Asunción in 1991 had only two organs and defined their functions during the transition period to the common market only very blurred. This had the advantage that you had to stick to any rigid structures, which simplified the continuous development of the integration process. The Protocol of Ouro Preto in 1994 completed and realize the institutional structure of Mercosur in the sense that it created a) new organs and b ) their properties and responsibilities stipulated. The Article 1 of the Protocol of Ouro Preto called as organs of Mercosur:
- El Consejo del Southern Common Market (CMC )
- El Grupo Southern Common Market (GMC )
- La Comisión de Comercio del Mercosur (CCM )
- La Comisión Parlamentaria Conjunta (CPC )
- El Foro Consultivo economic- social ( FCES )
- La Secretaría Administrativa del Mercosur (SAM )
(See Figure 1)
- Tribunal Permanente de Revisión del Mercosur (since 2004)
- Mercosur Parliament ( 7 May 2007)
The first two bodies and the Secretariat since the signing of the contract exist. The Secretariat had in the Treaty of Asunción as an institution, but was not yet a GMC associated management subsidiary body.
Neither the Treaty of Asunción or in the Protocol of Ouro Preto to find the Mercosur Summit. The peaks are semi- annual meeting of the presidents of the Mercosur countries, which take place simultaneously with the meetings of the CMC. The peaks are the result of a policy initiative, and since then there are continued by habit. Article 6 of the Protocol of Ouro Preto thus also the only reference found on the summit:
"The Council of the Common Market occurs every time together, if it deems it appropriate, is mandatory at least one meeting per semester with the participation of the Presidents of the Member States. "
History of Mercosur
Mercosur and the FTAA
The Mercosur countries see themselves as counterweight to the U.S. in the negotiations for a Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA ). Between the two blocks thereby show significant conflicts of interest, while the U.S. especially crowded under the Clinton administration on early tariff reductions, the Latin American countries also wanted to negotiate only in a last step.
Mercosur and EU
Mercosur and the European Union on 15 December 1995 signed an Association Agreement, which is a precursor to signing a free trade agreement. In 2004, the negotiations on this FTA were in an advanced stage and it was maxed with the conclusion of negotiations in the fall of 2004. However, was a big bone of contention access to the European market for agricultural products from Mercosur countries. Since 2004 is only negotiated on a technical level, a depression is not expected until at a success of the currently suspended Doha Round of World Trade Organization ( WTO).
The EU offer to Mercosur in 2004 saw it like this:
Source: European Commission
The Mercosur countries with this proposal, however, is far from satisfied. The EU offer was conditional. So the Mercosur Member States should remove tariffs on almost all industrial products within ten years. The customs duty for products whose tariff is now below 4%, should be immediately abolished.