Mercosur Parliament

Mercosur Parliament Parlamento del Mercosur Parlamento do Mercosul
1st Mercosur Parliament
Type
Type	Supernational legislature
Leadership
President	Ignacio Mendoza Unzain, UNACE since February 10, 2009
1st Vice President	Juan J. Domínguez, FA since February 15, 2009
2nd Vice President	José Pampuro, PJ since February 15, 2009
3rd Vice President	Dr. Rosinha, PT since February 15, 2009
Members	81 MPs
Political groups	Argentina (18) Brazil (18) Paraguay (18) Uruguay (18) Venezuela (9)
Elections
Last election	2008 Paraguayan general elections (Nationwide)
Meeting place
Meeting place
Website
parlamentodelmercosur.org

The Mercosur Parliament (Spanish: Parlamento del Mercosur, Portuguese: Parlamento do Mercosul) is the parliamentary institution of the Mercosur trade bloc. It is composed of 81 MPs, 18 from each member states of the bloc – Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay – and 9 from applying member Venezuela. Associate members – Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru – may also hold seats on the Parliament, but with no voting powers.

History

The creation of the Mercosur Parliament traces back to a 2002 process of establishing bodies and procedures aimed at the institutionalization and political autonomy of the bloc.

During the XXVII Meeting of Mercosur Heads of State on December 17, 2004, at Ouro Preto, Minas Gerais, the Common Market Council (CMC) instructed the Joint Parliamentary Commission (CPC) to write a protocol establishing the Mercosur Parliament, recommending its completion until the end of 2006. The CPC created the project in advance and on December 9, 2005, the Presidents of Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay signed the Constitutive Protocol of the Mercosur Parliament, creating the new body.

The first session of the Parliament should have been held before December 31, 2006, but it was only held on May 7, 2007, replacing the CPC. On June 2008, the MPs held their first parliamentary session outside the Mercosur headquarters in Montevideo, on the city of San Miguel de Tucumán, where the XXXV Meeting of Mercosur Heads of State was also being held.

Members

See also: 1st Mercosur Parliament

MPs of the 1st Mercosur Parliament were chosen among nominated members of the national parliaments from the bloc. Their mandates expired on December 31, 2010.

Starting with the 2008 Paraguayan general elections, members of the Parliament were directly elected. It is expected that Brazilians will be the next to elect their MPs through direct vote, during the 2010 general elections. Argentina representatives will be popularly elected on 2011 general elections. The first simultaneous election is expected to occur in 2015.

See also

• Latin American Parliament
• Bank of the South
• United Nations Parliamentary Assembly

References

• Protocolo Constitutivo del Parlamento del Mercosur (2005)

External links

• Official website