Limits of the Institutional Mimesis of the European Union: The Case of the Mercosur Parliament
Résumé
Since the 1960s, its constructors and theoreticians started to consider European integration as a model with the potential to be exported to other continents. Community institutions have thus developed an exportation policy of their conceptions and mechanisms, which states desiring to embark on the regional venture supported with technical and financial support. This is precisely the case of the Southern Common Market (Mercosur), established by Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay, in 1991. After a long period of negotiations, the Mercosur Parliament was created in 2006. This article analyzes to what extent the European Union (EU) has influenced the institutionalization of this assembly. How was this institutional transfer organized, and which elements of the European experience do the actors involved in the creation of the Parliament effectively keep? To answer these questions, the article is divided into three parts. The first part presents a literature review of Europe's historical actions and movements toward Latin America and of the development of Mercosur, the second part considers the central policies carried out by the EU in the attempt to export its model, and the third part compares some features of the European Parliament and the Mercosur Parliament to identify the achievements of the institutional transfer.