La dimensione sociale nel processo di integrazione dei mercati sudamericani : il caso Mercosur

Latin America is experiencing a complex process of reform from both a political and a social point of view. It is in light of this situation that the nearly consolidated process of regional integration will be studied, with special attention paid to the social importance and the regulation of fundamental social rights within Mercosur. Despite the fact that social rights were never historically uttered in the text of the Treaty of Asuncion, subsequently, the subject finally gained institutional recognition with the signing of the Social and Labor Declaration which elevated fundamental social rights to the same standards as those of Mercosur. Ample space will be dedicated to the identification of those fundamental social rights as provided for in said instrument while highlighting the principal developments, shortfalls and prospects of their success in Mercosur. Special importance will also be given to Mercosur’s controversial legal system, an intergovernmental organization unlike the European supranational system. This undoubtedly represents a limit to be surpassed towards the achievement of social and economic development. Understanding the legal system in question is fundamental in order to further examine the evolution of Mercosur’s legislative system, formed primarily on bilateral or multilateral accords and, as a result, lacking in a common law able to coordinate the protection of social rights. The purpose of this analysis is also to study how the creation of supranational frameworks such as a Court of Justice and a Mercosur Parliament may symbolize fundamental elements needed to reduce the existing asymmetry within the internal systems, while favoring the harmonization of the standards and the consolidation of a fair social dimension in Mercosur.