MERCOSUR  

GENERAL OUTLINE

 MERCOSUR or MERCOSUL is a South American Trade

Bloc established by the Treaty of Asunción in 1991and the
Protocol of Ouro Preto in 1994;

 FULL MEMBERS: Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, and

Uruguay;

 ASSOCIATE COUNTRIES: Bolivia, Chile, Ecuador,

Guyana, Peru and Suriname;

 OBSERVER COUNTRIES: New Zealand and Mexico;

 THE ORIGINS

The origins of the Mercosur refers to the Treaty that established the Latin American
Free Trade Association in 1960 and the Latin American Integration Association in
1980s.
1. Brazil and Argentina signed the Iguaçu Declaration in 1985 and the Cooperation
and Developed Treaty in 1988;
2. Paraguay and Uruguay signed the Treaty of Asunciòn in 1991;
3. Bolivia and Chile acquired membership status in 1996;

The purpose of the Mercosur was (and is) to promote free trade and facilitate the
movement of goods, people and currency.
 THE STRUCTURE

The construction of a common market was completed on 31 December 1994 with the amendment
of the Treaty of Ouro Preto. Mercosur took a legal and juridical nature of international law, with
a specific structure, that is the one it maintained. It is composed of:
• COUNCIL OF COMMON MARKET (CCM): it is the highest organ of the Mercosur with
the responsibility necessary to ensure the main achievement of the institution. It consists of the
Ministers of Foreign Affairs and the Ministers of Economy of the States Parties. It
formulated policies and assumes the legal personality of the Mercosur. Furthermore, it has the
duty to establish the organs and to modify or abolish them;
• COMMON MARKET GROUP (CMG): it is the executive organ of the Mercosur. It consists
of four members and four alternates for each country. The CMG has the duty to monitor
compliance with the Treaty of Asunciòn, to propose drafts decisions to the Council of Common
Market and to take measures necessary to ensure the Decisions adopted by it. 
 THE STRUCTURE

• THE MERCOSUR TRADE COMMISSION: this organ. Monitor the application of the Common Trade policy
instruments agreed by the States Parties, as well as to follow and review questions and issues related to common
trade policies. It consists of four members and four alternates for each States Parties;
• THE JOINT PARLIAMENTARY COMMISSION: it is the organ representing the Parliaments of the States
and consists of equal numbers of members of Parliaments. It has the duty to speed up the corresponding internal
procedures in the States Parties and assist with the harmonisation of legislations;
• THE ECONOMIC-SOCIAL CONSULTATIVE FORUM: it is the organ representing the economic and social
sectors of the Member States and shall consists of equal numbers of representatives from each State Party. It has
the consultative function;
• THE MERCOSUR ADMINISTRATIVE SECRETARIAT: it provides operational support and is responsible
for providing services to the other Mercosur organs. It is chosen by the Common Market Group and his term
lasts for 2 years. It serves as official archive for Mercosur documentation, and it has to publish the decisions
adopted within the framework of Mercosur.
 MERCOSUR SOURCES OF LAW 
Internal sources External sources

 International Law norms

The Treaty of Asuncion, its protocols
and its additional or complementary United Nations Charter
instruments
 Bretton Woods agreements
WTO and ALADI agreements
Agreements signed pursuant to the Treaty of Vienna conventions*
Asuncion and its protocols
Domestic Law norms (of
Member States) 
Decisions of the Common Market Council, Resolutions of
the Common Market Group and Directives of
the Mercosur Trade Commission

*Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations

Recommendations of the Common Market Council
and Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties
 A SELECTION OF THE MAIN LEGAL
INSTRUMENTS
Treaty of Asuncion Ouro Preto Protocol
The Treaty by which the foundations for The Protocol establishes the definitive institutional
the creation of the Southern Common structure, made up of three decision-making and three
Market are laid. non decision-making bodies:
Article 5:
A) Trade liberalization programme; Council of the  Common Mercosur Trade
Common Market Market Group Commission
B) Coordination of macroeconomic policies;
C) Common external tariff which encourages Mercosur Joint
Economic-Social
Administrative Parliamentary
the foreign competitiveness of the States Parties; Secretariat Commission
Consultative Forum

D) Adoption of sectoral agreements in order

to optimize production and to achieve efficient
scales of operation. Constitutive Protocol of the MERCOSUR Parliament

PARLASUR
 Ushuaia Protocol on Democratic
Commitment in MERCOSUR, the Republic
of Bolivia and the Republic of Chile
(CONTEXT) April 1996: Paraguay institutional
crisis is followed by the democratic clause of
Mercosur adoption.
 The Protocol gives the democratic institutions
full force and considers them a fundamental
condition for the development of the
integration processes. 
 Under the Protocol of Ushuaia, if the
democratic system is broken in a member
state, the consequences will range from the
suspension of the right to participate in the
different bodies of MERCOSUR to the
suspension of the rights and obligations
arising from the integration process.
 Attempted
Olivos Protocol for Dispute
UNIFORM APPLICATION
OF MERCOSUR LAW
solution Resolution in MERCOSUR
The Protocol  sets forth the measure for
is undermined by the solution of controversies which arise
NO DIRECT EFFECT OF MERCOSUR between the State Parties regarding the
LAW interpretation, application or non-
example
compliance of:
 Resolución 126/1994 MERCOSUR Mercosur Law
The dispositions of the Treaty of Asuncion, the
agreements within the framework of the Treaty
of Asuncion, the Decisions of the Common
Market Council and the Resolutions of the
Common Market Group. 
The resolution sets the requirements for guarantee
certificates of products and services commercialized
within Mercosur. The Olivos Protocol creates the TPR (Trib
BUT unal  Permanente de Revision).
Member States legislations on consumer Its Advisory Opinions are relevant for a
protection are out of phase and this undermines uniform application of regional law, however
the uniform application of this resolution. this is not guaranteed since they have no
binding force.
 MAIN OBJECTIVE: to
promote a common space
that generates business Free movements of
and investment goods, services and
opportunities through the productive factors
competitive integration of between Member States;
national economies into
the international market. 

MERCOSUR'S
Coordination of Common commercial OBJECTIVES 
macroeconomic and policy and common
sectoral policies; external customs tariff 

However, it happened that the legal instruments that should support the
achievement of official objectives have been used in unfair ways for the
achievement of the objectives of specific lobbies, which sustain or finance the
Institution.
    EU-MERCOSUR AGREEMENT (JUNE 2019)
OFFICIAL OBJECTIVES OR SPECIFIC LOBBIES OBJECTIVES?

The most extreme case that shows the tendency of Mercosur of exploiting legal instruments for the achievement
of lobby-specific objectives (NOT official objectives).

                                          Which interests are satisfied?  

It is an agreement that opens the European market mainly to Mercosur's agricultural products and meat.

BRAZILIAN MINISTRY OF ECONOMY: "the EU-Mercosur agreement would increase the GDP of Brazil by
over 87 billion dollars in 15 years due to the reduction of non-tariff barriers and growth productivity due to some
specific factors."

"European farmers and environmentalists have denounced a historic trade deal signed between the EU
and South American countries as a "dark moment", warning of unfair competition and dire consequences
for the climate." (-BBC)
AGRI-FOOD SECTOR
It is the sector that is going to benefit the most from
this Agreement exploiting Mercosur's sources in its
favor.
Mercosur aims to increase exports of beef by about
30% and agricultural products to the European
Union, fueling a sector which ranks first among the
causes of the destruction of the Amazon.

 Brazil has become an indisputable force on the

global market for agricultural as a net exporter, even
at the expenses of Europe.

"EU accused of selling out agriculture in Mercosur

deal" (-EuroNews)

"Farmers, environmentalists slam ‘sell-out’ EU-

Mercosur trade deal" (-France24)
                    AMAZON DESTRUCTION:
                 The price of this Agreement 
"As the Amazon Burns, Europe Seizes Title of Climate Champion" 
(-The New York Times) 

"Mercosur, the agreement with the EU sacrifices the Amazon for trade:
liberalized tariffs, pesticides, GMOs, copyright, food excellence" 
(- La Repubblica) 
"Amazon fires spark European rift at G7 over Mercosur trade deal" (-DW) 

• The Brazilian President direction would be to encourage deforestation in the

name of economic development. Bolsonaro administration planned the
destruction of the Amazon to allocate growing areas to the cultivation of soy and
cereals.    

                                      

• Free this land for breeding, increasing the agricultural lobby's exports of meat
and soybeans to the EU and China. 
WHICH IS THE
PRICE OF A The Eu-Mercosur agreement is one of the
largest free trade agreements of the history, but
FREE MARKET this economic deal is not so delightful for
BETWEEN everyone, indeed, only certain lobbies of
certain countries can take profits of it.
EUROPE AND
LATIN
AMERICA? 
 Who are the winners?
 European car producers, who can
easily sell their cars to the South
THE American market, which are cheaper
than the local ones;
AGRICULTUR  South American farmers, who can
export to Europe agricultural products
AL IMPACT OF and meat. 

EU-
Who are the losers?
MERCOSUR
 South American car producers,
AGREEMENT  afraid of the unfair competition ofEurop
ean sellers;
 European farmers, worried about the
cheaper opponents in terms of food
products.
 While this agreement offers the opportunity to buy items at a competitive
THE IMPACT prices (cars in South America and vegetables and meat in Europe), the risk
is that price levels affect quality ones. 
OF EU- The main issue is that South American countries do not have the same
MERCOSUR production and security standards we have in Europe.

AGREEMENT The “Brazilian meat scandal”  

ON As a demonstration of this difference in quality standards, on April 17 2017
some Brazilian companies were caught in exporting rotten and unsanitary
CONSUMERS beef, paying bribes to hide unhygienic conditions at meatpacking facilities.
THE IMPACT OF EU-MERCOSUR AGREEMENT ON
CLIMATE
EU-MERCOSUR AGREEMENT WILL BOOST
TRADE IN MAJOR CLIMATE-IMPACTING AG
Free trade can pave the way to prosperity,
COMMODITIES  but for sectors as important to climate
change as these, it can however be
counterproductive in the long run.
What we do not need are measures that
cheapen products that accelerate CO2
emissions and already deprive people of
their livelihoods.
The free trade agreement between the EU
and Mercosur is an example that it is not
enough to pursue climate politics isolated
from other policy areas. Instead, climate
considerations need to play a role into
everything we do, and become our first
priority. 
THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION!
Valerio Veneri, Flavia Ricciuti, Lorenzo Marcolini, Noemi Palombi