Governança multinível no mercosul: uma análise a partir do processo da união europeia

Abstract

Regional integration has, since its origins, generated debates that vary from differences on how States sovereignty is perceived until analysis of the levels of interdependence and cooperation amongst them. Structural arrangements of integration at times contribute to those debates starting from analysis of decision-making process and autonomy degree of participation of non-state actors. The signing of the Maastricht Treaty (1992) triggers a discussion on the participation of subnational and supranational entities independently in regional integration giving origin to Multilevel Governance (MLG). The emergency of subnational actors is perceived through new interactions, possible due to institutional changes, that create direct channels between supranational and subnational levels inside the European Union In that way, two consequences are noted and perceived by Marks (1993): (i) the absence of the need for central governments as interlocutors, connecting the local level directly to the international level; (ii) diffusion of power in decision making goes beyond central governments inside the integration process. Even though little widespread in Latin America, this dissertation intends to bring and interpretation of Mercosur trough the lenses of MLG, with the intention of bringing the main observations that can be concluded through the interaction of decentralized actors, their participation limits and how they act in the decision-making process. Trough an exploratory research, a series of case studies are brought on institutional bodies that are usually underestimated or ignored when assessing the decision-making process in Mercosur. In that way, this dissertation proposes specially to verify how these tendencies manifest in Mercosur, and beyond that, intends also to provide an analysis on how Mercosur is being built regionally in its own context, the kind of relation between multilevel governance and regional integration, limiting and stimulating factors of power dispersion in Mercosur’s integration, and subsequently, bring a new perspective of interpretation about how the integration process manifests in the region. The first chapter brings the elaboration and development of MLG together with events in European Union that brough to its elaboration, followed by its description as a theoretical approach applied to other international institutions. The second part brings New Regionalism Approach (NRA), in order to describe the main principles used so that MLG can be interpreted and applied to the reality of other regions. The second chapter describes central institutions of Mercosur, including CRPM, ARGM and GANRI. In the sequence, are also analyzed FCES, FOCEM, Parlasur and TRPM. Institutional strategies observed are analyzed in the third chapter, including Somos Mercosur and the Cupulas Social do Mercosur; Mercocities and FCCR; and REAF and RMAAM. The Social Mercosur is looked through in the final chapter, taking into account the institutionalization of the social agenda in Mercosur, and IPPDH seen as transversal branch; followed by citizenship building through the UPS and the Estatuto de Cidadania do Mercosur. Final Considerations reflect on how the cases studied contribute to the description of the phenomenon of power dispersion in the bloc, bringing an interpretation in light of MLG in an intergovernmental context.