Geographical indications in the Association Agreement between MERCOSUR and the European Union

the spirit of integration in question

Abstract

Based on the conditions imposed by the European Union on MERCOSUR for the negotiation of the association agreement, referring to the protection of geographical indications, the demands of each party are identified and contrasted. The hypothesis assumes that the EU's ideal of supranational cooperation is to promote integration among developing countries and cooperation with these countries, as a contribution to their growth and development. We sought to verify this hypothesis by analyzing the requirements of each party regarding geographical indications, understanding these as the names that identify a product as originating from the territory of a member of the regional association, a region or locality of that territory. Methodologically, the extensive list of geographical indications that both parties agreed to protect each other was reviewed, where the extensive EU list contrasts with the narrow MERCOSUR list. It is concluded that the spirit of negotiation of the commitments that will regulate the protection of these geographical indications is opposed to the supposed will of the EU to promote integration and cooperation, given that its requirements exceed those indicated by the WTO; that the result of the application will possibly have a negative impact on trade relations between the MERCOSUR countries and that the negotiation calls into question the spirit of EU  integration and cooperation with the MERCOSUR.