Economic integration
It requires the signing of gradual and joint development agreements at the level of the governments of the countries participating in the integration blocks. Cooperation can be agreed at government level but also at other levels, only between companies or entities according to the cooperation project in question. Integration modifies countries’ external economic relations, requires great coordination of their economic policies. The integration process requires political will among the governments of the member countries, since it affects all citizens. Cooperation requires the decisions of the parties involved and the willingness to put the necessary resources in order to achieve the agreed project.
Integration
It is the process of increasing interlinking of national economies. It takes place from the reduction or elimination of the obstacles that prevent the development of mutual ties, in order to obtain joint benefits based on the interests of the economic agents.
Traditional Integration
The European Union created the Treaty began through trade and spread to other economic, monetary, financial and productive spheres.
Current integration
Commercial exchange is carried out, it presupposes integration through the productive, scientific, technological way, harmonizing decision-making policies is materialized in ALBA, CELAC.
Economic cooperation
It is organized through cooperation agreements between countries or between them and international institutions. Criteria, interests, objectives and forms must be defined and covers different spheres, branches and forms. It is materialized through projects and programs, which can be financial aid, food, technical assistance, education, etc. and can be sourced from Development Assistance Committees (OECD) that are characterized by their conditionality.
SUNRISE
It was born from a proposal by President Hugo Chávez at the Third Summit of Heads of State and Government of the Association of Caribbean States and is interpreted as the real possibility of moving towards a new Latin American integration taking into account the differences and asymmetries between the nations. It is aimed at achieving a system of economic and social relations that have man as their center and not the market; in which the States have a regulatory role and citizen participation is conscious and voluntary. The Joint Declaration signed between the Governments of Cuba and Venezuela.
The Joint Declaration endorses the guiding principles for Latin American and Caribbean integration establishes: • The special and differential treatment required by the various countries of the region. • The need to take into account their respective levels of development. • The importance of defending Latin American and Caribbean cultures. • The willingness to create the Televisora del Sur (TELESUR) as an alternative instrument for the dissemination of the realities of our countries. • A continental plan to fight illiteracy. • The creation of a Social Emergency Fund. • Emergence of joint plans for the development of the infrastructure that the region requires to improve and increase its trade.
Main international economic integration blocks
- European Union
- Free Trade Agreement (FTA) USA, Canada, Mexico.
- Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN, in English and ANSEA, in Spanish)
- ASIA-PACIFIC FORUM (APEC).
- African Union
- Southern Common Market. (MERCOSUR
- Caribbean Common Market (CARICOM)
- Latin American Integration Association (ALADI)
- Andean Community of Nations (CAN)
- Central American Common Market (CACM)
- Bolivarian alternative for the Americas. (SUNRISE)
- UNASUR
Current trends in economic integration
- Silent and official integration
- Integration transcends the commercial sphere, also extra-economic ties
- Countries with different levels of development and socioeconomic system
- More flexibility blurring boundaries between integration and cooperation
- Simultaneous participation of countries in various schemes
Institutional Structure
- European council
- Minister council
- Parliament
- ECB Commission
Main changes
- Qualified majority extension
- Exit clause
- European Council chaired by President-elect for 2.5 years, re-eligible once
- Minister for Foreign Affairs: CFSP
- Members of Parliament: 750. Minimum: 6, Maximum: 96
- 95% Co-Decision Laws
- One Commissioner per country until 2014, after 2/3
- Members, rotating
