MERCOSUR 30 years: challenges, achievements and the future of regional integration

Abstract

This paper does not aim to provide answers, but to raise questions and to provoke reflections on the past, on the challenges, on the achievements and on the future of regional integration in South America. Celebrating MERCOSUR´s 30th anniversary, it is important to understand that all political and economic challenges are much more than a simple chapter of the regional integration process. In the first part of this article, some words on MERCOSUR as a subject of international law are needed. Just after these remarks, the paper faces the challenges of the process over the years and an historical analysis dividing it in stages is proposed. In its final part, the paper is focused on the relevance of the dispute resolution system to deepen cooperation among the states members of the international organization.