TheEuropeanUnionasanintegrationmodelforLatinAmericaandthe
Caribbean realityorwishfulthinking?
BiancaMINA108
Abstract
meaninLAC?`.Thus,initially,thisarticlerevealssometheoreticalaspectsofnewregionalism
under which umbrella are analyzed the organizations created since 1990 in the Latin-
American space. The following part will assess the differences existing between the
integrationprocessinLACandEU,concludingthat`therewillcontinuetobe,probably,at
leastfortheforeseeablefuture,asuigenerisintegration`.
Keywords
New regionalism, regional integration, Latin America and Carribean, European Union,
Europeanmodelofintegration
TheEuropeanUnionisseenasasophisticatedmodelofintegrationinnowadaysworld.Not
necessarilyaperfectpattern,butcertainlyasolidreferencewhentryingtotakeco-operation
toahigherlevel.
AnyattemptofcomparingEuropewithotherregionsintermsofintegration shouldstart
from the assumption that European integration has started in, and was determined by a
specifichistoricalcontext109,theaftermathofWorldWarII.Inanutshell,thecommitment
forpeace,visionarypoliticians,suchasRobertSchumanandKonrad Adenauer,historical
reconciliationandleadershipoftwomajorcountries,FranceandGermany,whichchoseto
108BiancaMinaispartoftheMinistryofForeignAffairsofRomania.Theviewsexpressedinthisarticlearethe
109
http://ecpr.eu/Filestore/PaperProposal/b08c2a70-7f77-474d-9fb4-9e63afa67142.pdf,2014,p.1.
95
Europeanintegrationaoneofitskindprocess.
110,allthiscomplexitymakesthe
Obviously,thecommongoalwouldnothavebeenenoughtoleadtowardssuchacohesive
structure,ifitwasnotbuiltonthegroundsofasimilareconomicphilosophyandpolitics.
SomeauthorsbelieveitwouldnotberighttousetheEuropeanexperienceasameasurement
toolinordertojudgethesuccessorfailureofotherintegrationinitiatives,thatoneshould
onlycompareregionalpoliciesandinstitutionaldevelopments 111;thatintegrationinitselfis
problematic112.
In Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC), attempts to integrate regionally have been
numerous and many of them tried to follow the European model. The variety of regional
organizations,similarinscope,butmodestinresults,provesthatspecificconditionsinthe
region,suchaseconomicdisparitiesandideologicaldiscrepancies,madeintegration àla
almost impossible. Official rhetoric aside, practical results show a different
reality.DespitesustainedEuropeaneffortstopromoteitsmodelandexperiences,LACare
following their own path towards integration. The question is if by using different
ingredients,thisregionwillbeabletoreachasimilarlevelofintegrationasEurope.Butfirst
ofall,doesitwantto?
analyzingtheorganizationscreatedsince1990,undertheumbrellaoftheNewRegionalism.
TheconceptofNewRegionalismisveryfluid,anditscomplexitylookedappealingtomany
researchers.ThetermassuchwaslaunchedbyRobertD.Palmerin1991,inhisbook New
110Cameron,Fraser,TheEuropeanUnionasaModelforRegionalIntegration,TheCouncilonForeignRelations,
septembrie2010,http://www.cfr.org/world/european-union-model-regional-integration/p22935,2010,p.1
111
JeanMonnet/RobertSchumanPaperSeriesVol.6No.1,2006,p.1.
112
inP.Della
Posta,M.Uvalic,A.Verdun(eds),Globalization,DevelopmentandIntegration,Basingstoke,Palgrave,2009,p.
273.
RegionalisminAsiaandthePacific.Itwasdefinedasthewayofpromotingintra-regionalcooperationasaninstrumentofincreasingt
andthus,promotingthenationalinterestsofthestates;afundamentalfeatureoftheNew
Regionalismwouldbeitsopennesstotheworld,politicallyandeconomically,aswellasthe
capacityoflinkingnationalismtointernationalaspirationsofthestates 113.
Researchers,suchasBjornHettneandAndrasInotai,advocatedthatNewRegionalismisa
spontaneousprocess,emergingfromwithintheregioninamultipolarworld,withstatesin
leadingroles,andnotimposedorcontrolledbyasuperpowersuchasduringtheColdWar
era114.Eveniftheinternalmotivationwasstrong,itishardtobelievethatithadnotasa
mental background the only known success story at the time, the EU, as well as the
perceptionoftheUSA,bymostLatinAmericansas
Indeed,
powerwhichLatin-Americanstatestriedtofillin.Between1990-1995,approximately30
inter-regionalagreementsweresigned.Thiseffervescenceindicatestheemergenceofanew
type of regionalism as a contemporary definition of unionism, a strategy to cope with
globalization in order to avoid isolation of the region internationally. Briefly, New
RegionalisminLACincludestheregionalandsub-regionalorganizationscreatedsince1990
until today (MERCOSUR, ALBA, UNASUR, CELAC, Pacific Alliance), but also older
organizations,whichwererenamedandreshaped(SICA,AndeanCommunity,ASC).Inorder
to analyse their degree of integration, this paper will attempt a brief description of each
organization,inthechronologicalorderoftheircreation.Thepaperwillalsohighlightthe
main instruments of cooperation between the EU and each regional/sub-regional
integrationorganization.
MERCOSUR was founded in 1991 by Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay with the
signingoftheTreatyofAsuncion. VenezuelaisafullmembersinceJuly2012,Boliviaisin
113Palmer,NormanD.,
114
TheNewRegionalisminAsiaandthePacific ,LexingtonBooks,1991,p.59.
Hettne, Bjorn& Inotai Andras, The New Regionalism implications for Global Development and
InternationalSecurity ,UNUWorldInstituteforDevelopmentEconomicsResearch,1994,p.1-2.
97
theprocessofbecomingone.Chile,Colombia,EcuadorandPeruareassociatedstates. The
mainobjectiveissub-regionalintegrationandthecreationofacommonmarket.Ithasan
administrative Secretariat located in Montevideo and a six-month rotating Presidency.
MERCOSUR institutions are the Council (gathering Ministers for Foreign Affairs and
MinistersofEconomy),theMERCOSURGroup(theexecutiveorganism,coordinatedbythe
MinistriesforForeignAffairs),theCommissionofCommerce(supervisingthefunctioningof
the customs union) and the Parliament (gathering representatives from the national
Parliaments of the member states)115. In 1995, the EU and MERCOSUR signed
an Interregional Framework Cooperation Agreement and in 2000, the parties opened
negotiationsforanAssociationAgreement.Negotiationsweresuspended in2004andre-
launchedinMay2010.TheEU providedassistancetoMERCOSURthroughits2007-2013
RegionalProgramme,amountingto
TheCentralAmericanIntegrationSystem(SICA) wasfoundedin1991byBelize,Costa
Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and Panama with the signing of the
TegucigalpaProtocol.TheDominicanRepublicisanassociatedmember.Mexico,Chileand
Brazil are regional observers, while Germany, Taiwan and Spain are extra-regional
observers. Its objectives are to create a region of peace, liberty and democracy based on
humanrightsprotectionandtoachievegradualeconomicintegration.ItsGeneralSecretariat
islocatedinElSalvador.Itsotherinstitutionsare:thePresidentialReunion,theParliament
(PARLACEN), the Centro-American Court of Justice (CCJ), Vice-Presidents Reunion, the
Ministerial Council and the Executive Committee 116. The most important mechanism of
developingSICA-EUrelationsistheSanJoséDialogue,establishedin1984.Furthermore,in
2012anEU-CentralAmericaAssociationAgreementwassigned,whichincludesalsoafree
tradearea.
115
Assuncion Treaty and Ouro Preto Protocol, in Instrumentos Fundacionales del MERCOSUR,
http://www.mercosur.int/msweb/portal%20intermediario/es/publica/arquivos/INSTRUMENTOS%20FUN
DACIONALES%20DEL%20MERCOSUR.pdf,accessedon11.12.2012.
116http://www10.iadb.org/intal/intalcdi/PE/2009/02824.pdf,accessedon13.12.2014.
TheAssociationofCaribbeanStates(ASC)wascreatedin1994by25states(Antiguaand
Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Columbia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominica, Dominican
Republic, El Salvador, Grenada, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Mexic,
Nicaragua,Panama,St.KittsandNevis,SantaLucia,St.VincentandGrenadine,Suriname,
Trinidad and Tobago, Venezuela) which signed the Convention in Cartagena de Indias
(Columbia). Associated states are Aruba, French Guyana, Guadeloupe, St. Martins and
NetherlandsAntilles.Observerstatesare:Spain,Italy,India,Brazil,Ecuador,Argentina,the
RussianFederation,Canada,Egypt,Peru,Chile,theNetherlands,Morrocco,theRepublicof
Korea, UK, Turkey, Ukraine and Finland. The aim of the organization is to consolidate
regionalcooperationinordertocreateafreetradearea.ASCinstitutionsaretheMinisterial
CouncilandtheSecretariat117.
The Andean Community (CAN) was established in 1996 by Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador,
PeruandVenezuelawhichdecidedtorevivetheAndeanPactof1969,bysigningtheTrujillo
DeclarationandtheProtocolmodifyingtheoriginalAgreementofCartagena.Chilewithdrew
fromtheAndeanPactin1976,andVenezuelaannounceditswithdrawalfromtheAndean
Communityin2006.Currently,theorganizationhasfourmembersand25observerstates.
ItsSecretariatislocatedinLima,Peru.AmongallLatin-Americanorganizations,CANhasthe
widestrangeofinstitutions,replicatingtheEuropeanmodel:the PresidentialCouncil,the
the Andean Parliament.118
tegration by
creating a common market. In 2003, CAN signed a Political Dialogue and Cooperation
AgreementwiththeEU,strivingtoanAssociationAgreement.DuetothefactthatBoliviaand
Ecuadorblockedthenegotiationprocessbyrequestingspecialtreatment,in2012,theEU
concludedaseparateFreeTradeAgreementonlywithPeruandColumbia. InitsRegional
StrategyPaper2007-2013,the
117Cartagena
Convention, http://www.cancilleria.gov.co/sites/default/files/Ingles_6.pdf, accessed on
13.12.2014.
118TrujilloProtocol,http://www.comunidadandina.org/Normativa.aspx?link=TP,accessedon13.12.2014.
99
TheBolivarianAllianceforthePeoplesofOurAmerica-
TCP)
-
119createdinHavanain2004,atthenVenezuelanPresident
The current members are states with leftist governments:
Venezuela, Cuba, Bolivia, Nicaragua, Commonwealth of Dominica, Antigua and Barbuda,
Ecuador, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, and Saint Lucia. ALBA is aiming to regional
economicintegrationbasedo
120
121,
meaningbarteringandmutualeconomicaid.Thefoundingdocumentsarethe Agreement
fortheconstructionoftheBolivarianAlternativeforthePeoplesofOurAmerica(ALBA)and
the Trade Agreements between the Peoples of our three countries (Bolivia, Cuba and
Venezuela).ThemostimportantachievementsofaristhecreationofALBA&Petrocaribe
Bank.
the Political Commission for Permanent Coordination of ALBA. Other organisms are the
Ministerial Council of Women and the Social Movements Council. In order to create a
monetaryunion,thefirststepwastoestablishacommonmonetaryunitcalledSUCRE 122.
The Union of South American Nations (UNASUR) is a regional organization, an
intergovernmental union of two regional blocs, the MERCOSUR and the CAN, tailored
followingtheEUmodel.TheUNASURConstitutiveTreatywassignedin2008,inBrasilia.The
Union'sheadquartersarelocatedinQuito(Ecuador)anditsinstitutionsare:theCouncilof
HeadsofStateandofGovernment,theCouncilofMinistersofExternalRelations,theSouth
American Council for Defence, the Council of Delegates and the General Secretariat, the
ParliamentandtheBankoftheSouth.TheProTemporePresidencyisarotatingone,witha
one-yearmandate.TheForeignMinistersmeeteverysixmonths.123Theobjectiveistocreate
acommonmarketbyprogressivelyeliminatingtaxesuntil2019.Thereisalsoaninitiative
foranintegratedSouth-Americaninfrastructure,aswellas forcreatinganenergyringto
119http://alba-tcp.org/en/contenido/alba-tcp-eng,accessedon7.12.2014.
120Idem11.
121Idem11.
122http://alba-tcp.org/en/contenido/alba-tcp-agreement-0,accessedon11.12.2014.
123
Tratado
Constitutivo
de
la
UNASUR,
http://www.integracionsur.com/sudamerica/TratadoUnasurBrasil08.pdf,accessedon12.12.2014.
connectArgentina,Brazil,Chile,ParaguayandUruguay.In2006,Argentina,Bolivia,Brazil,
Chile,Columbia,Ecuador,Guyana,Paraguay,Peru,Surinam,UruguayandVenezuelawaived
touristvisarequirementsamongthemselvesfortheirrespectivecitizens.
At the most recent UNASUR Summit (5 December 2014), Ecuador launched the idea of
revisiting the statute of the organization, by replacing the veto with the consensus
procedure,inordertosimplifythedecision-makingmechanism.TheSummitalsoadvanced
theideaofaSouth-Americancitizenship.
The Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) is an
intergovernmentalmechanismforpoliticaldialoguecomprisingforthefirsttimeallthe33
statesoftheregion 124;itwascreatedin2011bythesigningoftheCaracasDeclaration,at
the initiative of Mexico which felt excluded when UNASUR was founded. CELAC is a
125.Infact,CELACisaregionalmechanismforconsultation,
doesnothaveinstitutionsassuch,andalthoughitaimsatregionalintegration,resultshave
beenmodestsofar.Recently,CELACissubjecttoaninternalprocessofreflexionregarding
sodecide.
mentalone ifmemberstates
interlocutorintheinter-regionaldialogue.ThefirstEU-CELACSummitwasheldinSantiago
deChile,on26-27January2013,thenextonebeingscheduledtotakeplaceinBrussels,on
10-11June2015.ThepoliticalobjectivesoftheEuropeanUniontowardsLAC,asmentioned
in various statements of the European Commission 126, are: to consolidate the political
dialogueatregionalandsub-regionallevelandbilaterally;topromoteregionalintegration
124
Caracas Declaration, http://www.sela.org/attach/258/default/Caracas_Declaration.pdf, accessed on
13.12.2014
125CostaRicaPPT2014,http://www.rree.go.cr/celac/?sec=celac&cat=celac,accessedon11.12.2014
126
http://www.eeas.europa.eu/la/docs/com09_495_en.pdf,accessedon10.12.2014.
101
throughconcludingAssociationAgreementswithsub-regions;topromotesocialcohesion
andtacklepovertyandsocialexclusionthroughdevelopmentaid.
ThePacificAllianceisthemostrecentanddynamicsub-regionalmechanismofeconomic
co-operation, established between four like-minded Pacific Rim open economies: Chile,
Columbia,MexicoandPeru.AninitiativeofthenPeruvianPresidentAlanGarciaPerez,the
organizationstartedtofunctiondefactosinceApril2011,butwasformallylaunchedinChile,
in2012.Observerstatesare: Australia,Canada,China,CostaRica,DominicanRepublic,El
Salvador, France, Germany, Guatemala, Honduras, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, New
Zealand, Panama, Paraguay, Portugal, South Korea, Spain, Switzerland, Turkey, Uruguay,
UnitedKingdom,andUnitedStates.ThePacificAlliancewasbuiltoncoherent/converging
centre-right trade policies promoted by the governments of its four members. The main
objectiveoftheorganization,asstatedintheLimaDeclaration(April,2011) 127
the integration of the economies on the basis of the existing Commercial Agreements, to
developamechanismofpoliticaldialogueandcooperationwithAsia-
graduallytowardthegoaloffreemovementofgoods,services,capitalandpeoplebetween
llianceaddedalsoa
nascent political dimension, at the Lima Summit, by creating an informal framework for
politicaldialogueamongitsmembers.AttheSummitinCali,Columbia(23May2013),the
fourStatesannouncedacommercialliberalizationby90%,theimplementationofanunified
infrastructureofforeignexchangesandthecreationofapublic-privatecommitteetooffer
services of consulting to companies. Another objective is to sign an Agreement with the
Trans-PacificPartnership(TPP).
InordertodeterminewhatmakestheintegrationprocessinLACauniqueexperience,thus
different from the European one, this paper will quote the definition given by Nicholas
Moussisinhiswell-knownbook,
Themultinationalintegration
process is the voluntary establishment by treaty, concluded between independent states,
127
Lima Declaration,
accessedon13.12.2014.
http://wsp.presidencia.gov.co/Prensa/2011/Abril/Paginas/20110428_13.aspx,
ofcommoninstitutionsandthegradualdevelopmentbythemofcommonpoliciespursuing
common
128
policies,developedgraduallybytheactorsoftheprocess,fosterbothpoliticalandeconomic
integration of the participating states. Although multinational integration depends on
political decisions, it greatly affects the economies of the member states. Increasingly,
throughthestagesofcustomsunion,commonmarketandeconomicandmonetaryunion,it
129.
as such has two major dimensions: a political dimension and an
economicone.Anotherelementshouldbeaddedhowever,sinceitisbecomingevermore
relevantnowadays,bothinEuropeandinLAC:thesocialdimension.
Forthepurposeofthisanalysis,wedefinetheterms,asfollows:
1. The political dimension of multinational integration means, in the first place, that
Stateshavecommoninterestsandthepoliticalwilltomakethemreality.Furtheron,
it means creating the necessary instruments - common institutions - and enabling
themtoactinthisrespect.Butmostimportantofallistoestablishcommonpolicies,
through giving up of
transferring it to the
supranationalinstitutionstheyhavecreated.Researcherssaythatcommonpolicies
make the difference between genuine integration and intergovernmental
cooperation.130
2. Theeconomicdimensionofmultinationalintegrationhasfourstages:thefirstoneis
the free trade area (a region whose countries eliminated tariffs on goods traded
betweenthem),followedbythecustomsunion(aregionwhereStatesallowthefree
movementontheirterritoriesforallproducts,irrespectiveoftheirorigin,andapply
128
acommoncustomtarifftothirdcountries).Thethirdstageisthecommonmarket(a
http://europedia.moussis.eu/discus/book_en.html,
accessedon10.12.2014.
129
Tratado
Constitutivo
de
la
UNASUR,
http://www.integracionsur.com/sudamerica/TratadoUnasurBrasil08.pdf,accessedon12.12.2014.
130
Tratado
Constitutivo
de
la
UNASUR,
http://www.integracionsur.com/sudamerica/TratadoUnasurBrasil08.pdf,accessedon12.12.2014.
103
regionwheregoods,services,capitalandlabourcirculatefreely),andthefourthand
most advanced one is the economic and monetary union (which imply a single
monetary policy, a single currency, and the convergence of national economic
policies).
3. Bysocialdimension,weunderstandinvolvingthecivilsocietyinelaboratingcommon
policies,butalsothecommitmentofStatestowardsimplementingCorporateSocial
Responsibility national strategies, which would finally converge in a common
strategyinthisrespect.
After carefully analyzing the fundamental documents of the abovementioned
organizations,somepreliminaryconclusionscanbedrawn,asfollows:
-
alltheLatinAmericanandCaribbeanorganizationsaimatregionalintegrationbut
bear in mind different reasons and goals: MERCOSUR and ASC envisage mainly to
achieve economic integration, SICA is oriented more towards building a region of
peace and democracy and achieving regional security, CAN seeks economic
integration,butisalsoconcernedbyitsprojectioninternationally;ALBApromotes
co-operation based on solidarity and economic complementarity, being also
interestedinacquiringaninternationalprofile;UNASURtriestocoverallcooperation
dimensions in order to create the common market based on a South American
identity;CELAC,asapoliticaldialoguemechanism,aimsatbecomingthevoiceofLAC
in the world; last, but not least, the Pacific Alliance, less interested in the political
dimensionthantheothers,wantstotaketheeconomicdimensionofintegrationto
-
thehighestlevel;
speakingaboutsupranationalinstitutions,therearealsodifferencesbetweenthese
organizations. The most equipped are MERCOSUR, SICA, CAN and UNASUR, which
triedtoreplicatetheEuropeanmodelinthisrespect;theyarefollowedbyALBAand
ASC;theothertwo,CELACandthePacificAlliance,havenosupranationalinstitutions
-
atall;
althoughsomeofthemhavesimilarinstitutionalstructureastheEU,LatinAmerican
andCaribbeanorganizationstakedecisionsbyconsensus,atPresidentiallevel,onthe
occasion of regional Summits. Consequently, the decision making process is not
always very smooth and sometimes it takes very long. Hence the difficulty to
formidable resistance to the consolidation of independent
131,anddrawattentionuponthefactthatS
ononehand,andfailuretofollowuponagreementsthathavebeenreached,onthe
-
other,damagethequalityoftheregionaldialogue 132.
allorganizationsmentionthesocialdimensionintheirfoundingdocumentswhether
Responsibilityhasbeenacquiringrecentlymorevisibility,inparallelwithagrowing
When trying to describe the integration process in LAC, one should also take into
considerationthefundamentalvaluesandprincipleswhichhavebeengoverningtheregion
sinceitsindependence,inordertoidentifythedifficultiesandchallenges 133.
AccordingtoJoséAnt
thedefenseoftheNation-Stateandnationalsovereignty;second,itstraditionalambitions
for unionism and regional integration; and third, the search for greater autonomy at the
internationallevel134
tocedepartoftheirsovereigntytosupranationalinstitutions,whichcouldapplycommon
policiesinordertoattaincommonobjectives.Inouropinion,thisattitudeshowsalsoalack
ofpoliticalwilltodeepenintegration.
131 Roy, Joaquín, "La integración regional en Europa y América Latina: contexto", in
ago:
available at
Integración Regional y Relaciones Unión Europea, 2013,
http://www10.iadb.org/intal/intalcdi/PE/2013/11827.pdf,p.17,accessedon24.04.2014]
132 Sanahuj
Towards a genuine multilateralismin externalrelations betweentheEuropean
ExternalAffairs,2006,availableathttp://edz.bib.uni-mannheim.de/daten/edz-ma/ep/06/pe370.622-en.pdf,
accessedon26.04.2014.
133
http://ecpr.eu/Filestore/PaperProposal/b08c2a70-7f77-474d-9fb4-9e63afa67142.pdf,2014,p.2.
134Sanahuja,JoséAnt
-liberalregionalisminLatinAmeri
CentreforAdvancedStudies,EuropeanUniversityInstitute,RSCAS2012/05,p.1.
105
Anotherveryimportantaspect,whichhasamajorinfluenceontheintegrationdynamicsi n
LAC, is ideology. In some cases, difficulties in reaching consensus due to the ideological
differences within the same organization make the integration process move slowly, if
movingatall.
OneexampleinthissenseisCAN.AsColombiaandPerusignedFreeTradeAgreementswith
theUnitedStates,Venezuelaprotestedbywithdrawingfromtheorganization.Ideologyalso
complicatednegotiationsbetweenCANandtheEU.BoliviaandEcuadorrequestedspecial
treatment,sotheEUfinallyconcludedtheFreeTradeAgreementonlywithColumbiaand
Peru.Now,thequestionisifCANisstillviable.OnehastobearinmindthatColombiaand
PeruarefoundersofthePacificAlliance,whileBoliviaandEcuador(ALBAmembers)will
joinMERCOSUR.
AnotherexampleisMERCOSUR,whichhasnotbeenexemptofinternaldifficultiesduetothe
differences between Brazil and Argentina. Now, withthe admission of Venezuela and the
upcomingadditionofEcuadorandBolivia,threecountrieswithcentralizedeconomies,as
fullmembersoftheorganization,themainessenceofMERCOSURisquestionable.Onecan
askhowitwouldbepossibletocreateacommonmarketputtingtogethereconomiesbased
onoppositeprinciples.Ontheotherhand,Paraguay,whichwasexcludedfromMERCOSUR,
in2012,duetoa
,wasrecentlyreinsertedintheorganizationandmaintainsits
initial opposition to the admission of new members. One can conclude that reaching
consensusmightbeproblematicinthefuture.Intheinter-regionaldialogue,namelytheEU-
MERCOSURrelations,negotiationshavenotbeeneasyeither.Oneproblemisthatthetwo
moreadvancedcountries,BrazilandArgentina,couldnotagreeamongthemselvesforalong
timeontheoffertobepresentedtotheEU.Areweabouttowitnesstheconclusionofan
agreementbetweentheEUandonlythosecountrieswantingto(Brazil,Uruguayandmaybe
Argentina),aswasthecasewiththeCAN?Anyway,thenegotiationsarealreadytakingplace
withonlypartofthemembers,asVenezuelaisnot,andcontinuesnottobeinterested.On
anotherhand,ifUruguayandParaguaymaterializetheirintentiontojointhePacificAlliance,
astheyannounced,moreasapoliticalthreat,probably,whatisleftofMERCOSURasabloc?
As the economic integration w
achieveitsgoalsforexampleincustomunionarrangementssince1991,itlooksliketheonly
cohesive element is the (almost) common political vision, each time closer to the ALBA
ideology,ifnoteconomicphilosophy.Inthemeanwhile,weseethePacificAllianceachieving
90%free-taxinternalcommerceinjusttwoyears.
WithinCELAC,whichincludeseveryone,thesituationisevenmorecomplicated.Ithas33
countries of very different sizes, ideologies, economies, problems and interests.
Accommodatingthemisachallengeforanyrotatingpresidencyoftheorganization.Inthe
bi-regional dialogue with the EU, the same challenge arises: reaching the consensus. The
documentstobeagreedupon(DeclarationandActionPlan)areverylong,becauseeveryone
wants to add something, to respond to its particular interests, not consistent or even
colliding, sometimes, withthe one of other CELAC members, and the negotiation process
takesages.Bycontrastandmaybeasaresultofthosedifficulties,theresultsofthisinter-
regionalco-operationarenotspectacularandthereiscertainlyroomforimprovement,both
inmethodologyandinconcreteaction.
A different example, on a positive note this time, is that of the Pacific Alliance. This
organization, created by States with similar ideologies and comparable economies, is a
success story. Critics say that its political dimension is modest and it has no institutions.
However,itremainsattachedtoitsinitialobjectivetocreateacommonmarket,whichis
becomingreality.LetusnotforgetthattheEUstartedasasmalleconomiccommunityand
developedgraduallyintothecomplexintegrationprocesswewitnesstoday.
BearinginmindthetwotypesofLatin-Americanorganizations,ononehandmoreinclusive
organizations, which mix different ideologies and economies, and on the other hand
organizationssmallinnumberofmembers,butcoherentonallaspects,wecanaskourselves
ifinLatinAmericaandCaribbeantheeconomicdimensionofintegrationcanbeachieved
onlybysacrificingthepoliticaldimensionandviceversa;ifintegrationasawhole,likethe
Europeanone,isnotanillusionforthisregion,atleastinthishistoricalmoment.Wehave
alsoobservedthatamongtheLatinAmericanorganizations,thosehavingamoredeveloped
political dimension, such as CELAC, UNASUR and ALBA, pay more attention to the social
107
dimensionthantheothers,whicharefocusingontheeconomicdimension.
Certainly, the evolution of Neo-Regionalism in LAC is substantially different from other
experiences in the world. Finally, the future of the Latin-American integration process
depends mostly on the States in the region, on their political commitment towards
integration.Unfortunately,intheregionthereisnot asitwasthecaseinEurope-agroup
ofStateswithacommonvision,willingtotakethelead,toputregionalobjectivesbeforethe
national ones and to push forward the integration efforts. Even the biggest States, which
couldhaveaconsiderableinfluence,arenotveryinterestedinassumingthisrole.
So, there will continue to be, probably, at least for the foreseeable future, a sui generis
integration, resembling more to intergovernmental cooperation, borrowing from other
integrationmodels(theEU,forinstance)thosepartsthatcanbeconvenientlyadaptedtothe
conditionsandthephilosophyoftheregion.Theofficialrhetoricwillprobablyremainthe
same,since assomeoneoncesaid speakingaboutintegrationinLACmeanstosayallor
nothing.FromtheEuropeanperspective,itbecomesclearthatinter-regionalco-operation
withLatin-AmericaandtheCaribbeanisatacrossroadsandneedstobereshapedandrelaunchedinordertobecomeviableandfruitful.
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