Mercosur Parliament should begin to take shape in 2006

Marcela Rebelo

Reporter - Agência Brasil

Brasília - The Brazilian delegation to the Joint Parliamentary Commission of the Mercosur drafted a document that will be presented this week in Montevideo on the definition of the bloc's Parliament. The 29th Mercosur meeting will take place in the Uruguayan capital on Thursday (8) and Friday (9).

The text is expected to be approved at the meeting, according to ambassador José Eduardo Felício, general undersecretary for South America in the Ministry of Foreign Relations. The ambassador reported that the initial idea is for each country to nominate 18 representatives to the parliament some time in 2006.

"It's not what Brazil was seeking, which was representation proportional to the population of each country," he pointed out. According to Felício, the proportionality issue should remain in discussion throughout the process of installing the parliament, expected to be concluded by 2014.

According to the ambassador, members of the Mercosur Parliament should eventually be chosen through direct elections in each country. "Initially, the 18 representatives will be nominated; elections are envisaged for later on," he affirmed. According to Felício, in its first phase the Parliament will be merely advisory and opinionative. "These functions could be enlarged by 2014," he observed.

Translation: David Silberstein