European and South American Citizenship

On November 30, 2012 the Heads of States and of Governments of the Member States of the Union of South American Nations gathered in Lima, Peru, for the VI UNASUR Presidential Summit. They addressed the need of deepening the political, economic, social, cultural, energetic, environmental, infrastructural South American integration. At the same time, they reaffirmed their commitments to promote and give priority to these issues, which are an essential and strategic part of the agenda.

On the other hand, the Ecuadorian President, Rafael Correa, compared the European and the South American citizenships. In this regard, he indicated that the construction of a common citizenship is a goal that “South America, of course, must learn from Europe”.

The UNASUR Constitutive Treaty was signed on May 23, 2008 in Brasilia, Brazil. It is composed by twelve Member States: The Andean Community (CAN) – Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru –, the Southern Common Market (Mercosur) – Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay,  Uruguay, Venezuela and other members (Chile, Guyana, Surinam).

If we look at the original organization intentions we find two fundamental concepts: 1 – the building of South American identity and citizenship and 2- the development of an integrated regional space. If we talk about an integrated regional space, we mean necessarily unity in a cultural, social economic and political sense. The key is given by opening a dialogue. The Royal Spanish Academy defines dialŏgus (from Latin) as “debate or treatment in search of agreement”. It is clear that big deals require yielding some privileged postures. The measure of what we give is directly proportional to what we received. Hence a close and unidimensional attitude avoids the possibility to perceive your neighbour as the extension of yourself. 

Can we talk about a genuine integration in South America?

Under the problematic socio-economic inequality, social exclusion, lack of interest in public affairs and the erosion of democratic institutions, South America is trying to build, in a participative and consensual way, a space for integration despite the absence of a regional identity. Correa affirmed that Europeans “killed each other in the II WW and in other conflicts, but now they are almost like one country”. The hard measures taken in some EU countries, which weren't able to control their debt, show that, on the one hand,  the missing dialogue caused firstly an unconditional acceptance of cuts and adjustments and secondly, an unquestionable submission to the German leadership. On the other hand, the fragility of the European citizenship's concept that has been built with a lot of efforts and that, in fact, never exhibited the porosity of this political construction.

The Euro currency is not sufficient to provide a sense of belonging together. At this point, there is one clear solution: more federalism would strengthen the spirit of the European Union.

Has the regional integration a chance?

Before analysing the regional integration's issue, it is necessary speaking about the South American citizenship.

The classic version describes citizenship as a legal and political status which allows every individual to acquire some rights (civil, political, social rights) and some duties (taxes, traditionally military service, loyalty) in relation to a political community, as well as the ability of intervening in the collective life of a State. The latter right arises from the democratic principle of sovereignty of people. 

Nowadays the transition from a mere passive residentship to a protagonist and active citizenship requires an egregious compromise for the region. The President of Peru, Ollanta Humala, called for the South American citizenship to become "a reality"  in the UNASUR Presidential Summit. At this point, neither wishful expressions nor institutional vestments are sufficient. On the one hand, we own the formal institutions like laws, decrees, treaties and on the other hand, the informal ones like customs and practices. The hardest challenge is removing the formal one to give space for the genuine integration essence, which means an agreement inter partes, fulfilled by giving and keeping the word.

Why are the integration policies still weak in the region?

Group shots and grandiose words aren't enough to build a South American citizenship. The key is setting apart personal fame and giving way to those who remain. Every country still  has too much problems but common solutions and agenda should be priorities. Working together removes automatically personal selfishness. At the moment, every government is concerned about his own matters, which makes planning the next 25 or 30 years impossible.

Create a South American consciousness will take a long time. The South American Parliament, launched by the Andean Parliament, proves it. As a deliberative body and representing the peoples of UNSAUR countries, it has community intentions and it is responsible for the political control over the Union's institutions, functioning as dialogue and negotiation space on behalf of the South American integration development.

It is expected that during the first half of 2013 the Forum of Presidents of Legislative Branches in Central America and the Caribbean (FOPREL) involving the Presidents of the

Andean and Mercosur Parliaments will discuss and approve the draft of the Additional Protocol to the UNSUR Constitutive Treaty, which forces the Constitution of the South American Parliament, in order to be presented to the Council of Heads of State and of Government of Unasur.

The core issue is an open and frank dialogue to achieve a large consensus about the protection and development of the integration interests. It means therefore to left behind self interests and to put forward the neighbour; and the agreement of individual acts brings to an authentic Federalism. God is the base of this unconditional Love. It is time to wonder how much we desire a South American consciousness and how much we are willing to give up our self interests. The results of these efforts are fruitful life and prosperous growth.

GRETEL LEDO

Lawyer, Political Scientist, Sociologist, Master in International Relations Europe – Latin America, Bologna University, International Policy Analyst

Published by The Federalist Debate