Le Mercosur un pas en avant -Mercosur in dire straits - A path forward - Y el documento del Mercosur

Le Mercosur: un pas en avant

Pour nos lecteurs francophones nous donnons ici un panorama synthétique sur la décision prise au plus haut niveau du Mercosur par les quatre Pays Fondateurs : l'Argentine, le Brésil, le Paraguay et l'Uruguay mardi passé.

Il s'agissait de mettre fin à l'impasse crée par la décision unilatérale du Vénézuela d'occuper la présidence pro temporel du bloc sans l'accord des Pays Membres. En outre, les Pays Fondateurs réclament au Vénézuela l'incorporation dans leur législation nationale d'environ 300 pièces de législation Mercosur et de leur adhésion à un certain nombre de traités signés par le bloc. Conditions indispensables pour pouvoir considérer le Vénézuela comme Pays Membre.

La décision qui fut prise et signé par les ministres de relations extérieures des quatre Pays Fondateurs, fut de créer une commission coordinatrice formée par un représentant de chaque pays pour conduire les affaires du bloc jusqu'à décembre 2016. En outre, ils donnèrent au Vénezuela un délai jusqu'au 1er décembre pour incorporer ce qu'il manque à leur législation.

En approchant le prochain tour de négociations du Mercosur avec l'UE,  il était temps.

Mercosur in dire straits

A path forward

Al pie los lectores de habla hispana encontrarán el documento del Mercosur firmado por los Cancilleres de los cuatro Países Fundadores

Our readers outside Mercosur, but interested in what happens in this region of South America, need some clarification regarding the situation today.

It is extremely difficult to try and be objective. Politics have a weight in this matter that one cannot ignore, and politics is something we usually try not to discuss in our blog. However, it is the new political trend that has been developing in this part of the Americas, that has a significant bearing on what has happened last Tuesday at the level of the Mercosur Council, their top ruling collective body.

On Tuesday last, the four Mercosur founding countries - Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay- issued a joint declaration stating that “the four Founding Countries approved today [Tuesday] a note by consensus, according to which note Venezuela will not sit at the [pro tempore] presidency, which as from now will be conducted by means of a coordinating committee formed by one representative for each of the founders”.

Uruguay agreed to sign this declaration, but not before it was agreed to give the government of Venezuela an exceptional additional period, up to December 1^st, in order that they incorporate into their own legislation some 300 odd pieces of Mercosur legislation still pending of incorporation, part of the conditions established within Mercosur to become a full fledged member, which the four founders consider Venezuela still is not.

Seas of ink have already been shed while discussing this question. We have no intention of discussing it further. We have limited ourselves to state what has been decided at the top, 48 hours ago.

Does this mean the end? By all means, no. However, even if Venezuela disagrees violently with the decision, the statement and the formation of the four-member coordinating committee, allow Mercosur to manoeuvre and steer away from paralysis, a situation that had begun to threaten the flow of trade, and the operation of the those bodies that are essential to Mercosur’s way of life: the Common Market Group (GMC), the Commerce Committee (CCM) and such essential bodies as CT1, the Technical Committee where questions related to tariffs are settled. No minor stuff indeed.

It will also allow Mercosur to continue their protracted negotiation with the EU and begin to feel their way towards the Pacific Alliance.

The situation is still a complex one, but a path forward is now in place.

Mauricio López Dardaine

NOTE: Article 4 of the Mercosur document here bellow, states in no uncertain terms, that should Venezuela persist in non compliance with regard to the incorporation of the legal instruments still lacking incorportation [as of December 1st. 2016] this "will imply ceasing to be able to make use of the rights corresponding to a Member State", until the Member States agree with Venezuela the conditions relative to Venezuela regaining full fledged member status. 

Declaración conjunta relativa al funcionamiento del Mercosur y al Protocolo de Adhesión de la República Bolivariana de Venezuela al Mercosur

volver