Asymmetric Trade Negotiations in the Southern Cone: FTAA and EU-Mercosur negotiatons. A Comparative Look at Both Processes from a Mercosur Perspective

BOTTO, MERCEDES Y BIANCULLI, ANDREA

Montreal, Canada

Congreso; LASA XXVII International Congress; 2007

Latin American Studies Assoication (LASA)

The development and later failure of the asymmetric negotiations involving Mercosur seem to be more readily explained by the second argument. In effect, by the mid-1990s Mercosur external agenda involved negotiations with the United States (US) to establish a free trade area along the continent: the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA). Negotiations with the European Union (UE) pursued the same objective. However, after a long process of routine and schedules meetings, neither of the two negotiations could be successfully closed. On the contrary, they have gained increasing complexity until finally being diluted. As negotiations advanced, difficulties to come to an agreement are explained not only by the small and insignificant economic gains for middle countries, such as Argentina and Brazil, but by the increasing governance demands and criteria imposed by the Northern partners as well. Both the moderate economic gains and the regulatory and standard content have increased the costs of the negotiations, contributing thus to their impasse or even dilution. The idea of this paper is to show to what extent national positions have being transformed along these 10-year negotiating processes, while procedural and governance demands kept increasing.