As soluções de controvérsias no Mercosul: a lacuna entre comércio e política na integração regional Sul-americana

Abstract

This study aims to analyze the functioning of the dispute settlement Southern Common Market (Mercosur) mechanism from its commercial and political contradictions, and to evaluate its technical and institutional capacity to overcome these contradictions. The paper investigates the Mercosur dispute settlement system and its alternatives to litigation derived from the process of integration in the region, outlining the inconsistencies of the South American regionalism in the political and commercial aspects. The research uses the case study method and seeks to answer recent Mercosur problems. For this, it was held a documentary research on the reports delivered by the dispute settlement system of the referred bloc, and a reading on authors that investigated the role of institutions in the deepening of integration and cooperation among states. Finally, this paper shows the needs for breakdown with the intergovernmental model by which the bloc is conducted, and therefore, for opening spaces for permanent representatives of the productive sector and other stakeholders. It also suggests that efforts to reduce economic asymmetries are intensified.