A question that has puzzled me for quite a while is what  the Pacific Alliance and its members really mean with deep integration.

Photocredits: Kaisorn/FreeDigitalPhotos.net
This is not a minor issue considering that deep integration is one of the main goals of the Pacific Alliance. In the future deep integration and what it entails could serve as a proxy for the success or failure of the Pacific Alliance, thus more clarity on its meaning is necessary.

I have addressed the question and tried to solve the query through different sources.

First, the text of the Framework Agreement accompanying the concept could give an indication as to the meaning and scope of the deep integration goal. Article three prescribes three goals for the PA. The first one is building an area of deep integration to advance progressively towards the free movement of good, services, capital and persons. The qualification provided is that the area of deep integration will be built in a consensual and participative way. The programmatic reference to ‘advance’ in the free movement of factors has omitted the reference to what in the common typology of Balassa refers to the common market.

Second, traditional approaches to defining the concept refer to deep integration opposing it to the concept of shallow integration. The concept was first used by Robert Laurence. It refers to a kind of commercial agreement that deals with behind the border issues. They include disciplines such as services, factors movement, harmonisation of regulatory regimes, environmental standards, and in general domestic policies that affect international competitiveness. In contrast, shallow agreements refer to agreements that deal with border issues preventing trade between two parties. The concept has been used in the literature to refer to NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement). Commercial agreements north-south have been also characterised as deep integration agreements, while  south-south agreements have commonly been considered shallow agreements in some academic literature. In this context, the concept seems to have a commercial connotation. Continue reading

Last week a friend from a government agency asked me in a mesmerising way: Are there already publications on the Pacific Alliance? Well, there are in fact three dedicated edited books on the Pacific Alliance!

I would like to review these recent publications on the Pacific Alliance for the general public to get a sense of what they can get from them.

1. Alianza del Pacífico: en el Proceso de Integración Latinoamericano (the Pacific Alliance in the Latin American Integration Process) by CIEPLAN and the Interamerican Development Bank. This 2014 edited exploratory publication provides general insights on several aspects of the Pacific Alliance such as the relational issues with Mercosur and Brazil. An interesting approach is proposed by Alexandro Foxley in his short contribution on productive integration. As mentioned the book is only exploratory and does not provide details on the particular challenges of the PA to move forward. The book is available for free at: www.kas.de
2. La Alianza del Pacífico Mitos y Realidades (The Pacific Alliance: myths and realities). This is a 2015 edited publication that offers more in-depth analysis on particular topics and issues of the Pacific Alliance. It examines the Pacific Alliance in the regional and the global context with contributions by several authors. The publication briefly addresses some of the general challenges that arrive from the current institutional structure posing the question on how it does not conform with the institutional requirements to establish a common market. Moreover, the book includes a section on the challenges and cooperation avenues on security issues related to drug trafficking, money laundry, and organised crime for the PA members.  The book is available for free at: www.kas.de
3. Perspectivas y Oportunidades de la Alianza del Pacífico. (Opportunities and Prospects of the Pacific Alliance). This is a 2015 edited contribution by Universidad CESA and Universidad del Desarrollo. The book delves into more detail on the achievements that the PA has made up to this point and also touches on particular aspects of the PA, including contributions on particular countries such as Chile and Peru. The chapter by Edgar Vieira is worth exploring since it provides interesting insights from a theoretical and practical point of view. Some general recommendations on steps forward come from the contributions while a strong economic focus on their analysis persists in most of the chapters. Photocredits: Panaawat/FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Continue reading