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Mercosur's institutional structure may be reviewed and eventually modified
by a Diplomatic Conference convened when the member countries deem it
necessary.
This is provided for in Article 47 of the Ouro Preto Protocol of 1994.
It establishes that "the States Parties shall convene, when they
deem it opportune, a diplomatic conference with the objective of reviewing
the institutional structure of Mercosur established by this Protocol,
as well as the specific attributions of each of its organs".
It is an initiative that would seem convenient today in view of the increasingly
evident need to promote the idea of amending the Treaty of Asunción
that created Mercosur, in order to adapt it to the new realities of regional
integration among the current member countries.
These are new realities that may reflect different situations from those
that led to the negotiation and signing of the Treaty in 1991 and the
Ouro Preto Protocol itself in 1994.
However, they may also be the result of the incorporation of new member
countries, particularly from the South American region, some of which
have already taken steps towards full membership of Mercosur. These include
Bolivia, Chile, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia and Venezuela.
It is moreover an idea whose practical application should include an
analysis of the political, cultural and economic factors that may have
an influence on the realistic assessment of its potential convenience
for the efficiency and effectiveness of the regional integration process.
This is the kind of analysis that would not, therefore, need to be carried
out solely in governmental spheres. Only after it is possible to assess
with certainty the degree of acceptance that such an initiative might
have in the respective societies, should it be escalated to the spheres
of official negotiations, such as those resulting from the application
of the cited Article 47 of the Ouro Preto Protocol.
It is also an analysis that should be carried out taking into account
possible further developments that might take place in the different spheres
for international integration of the Mercosur countries. In particular,
in the broader scope of global international trade, such as the WTO, and
in other regional spheres of growing importance, such as Europe, Asia,
Africa, Central America and the Caribbean, and, most certainly, North
America.
Another provision of the Treaty of Asunción that is important
from an institutional and legal perspective, is the simultaneous entry
into force of the rules issued by the Mercosur bodies. It is a simultaneity
that contributes to the effectiveness and efficiency of the actions aimed
at deepening and harmonizing an integration process.
Such simultaneity is reflected in the procedures foreseen in Article
40 of the Protocol, which establishes:
- that once the standard has been approved, the Member States shall
adopt the necessary measures for its incorporation into the national
legal system and communicate them to the Mercosur Administrative Secretariat;
- that when all member states have reported on the incorporation of
the rules into their respective internal legal systems, the Administrative
Secretariat shall communicate the fact to each member state; and
- that the rules shall enter into force simultaneously in the Member
States within thirty days of the date of communication by the Administrative
Secretariat. To this end, the Member States shall, within the said period,
publicize the entry into force of the referred rules through their respective
official journals.
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