Indo Além da Taprobana: O Instituto da Supranacionalidade no Mercosul

Abstract

Celebrating thirty years of existence on 03/26/2021, the MERCOSUR Bloc has not yet managed to transform itself into a common market – the main objective for which it was designed, as stated in Article 1 of its foundation milestone, the Treaty of Asuncion (1991). Having achieved comercial success as a free trade zone, but proving to be ambiguous and imperfect in its version of a customs union, the bloc gestated in Asuncion, Paraguay, has shown notable advances and several setbacks, as it is subject to the misfortunes and political glimpses of its governments – in addition to the difficulties arising from the world economic order and amplified due to the COVID-19 pandemic – owing to the fact that, to this day, it has been kept under the criterion of intergovernability. However, the MERCOSUR is still considered a strong mechanism for positive commercial and social contributions among its partners. As a regional reality or even as a strategic idea, the model maintains its strenght, its validity and a good support base, enabling it for better times to come. In order to do so, however, it is essential that member countries open themselves to the idea of shared integration along the lines of the European Union, concluding the convergence period of the common external tariff (CET) and opting for an integration governed by the institute of supranationality, with its acts and functioning subject to a supranational Court of Justice. Therefore, the main objectives of this study are to shed a light on the internal order obstacles of its member states to achieve the referred purpose, and to present the necessary adjustments to upgrade the association towards the common market – where institutional rules as well as human and social rights can really prevail.