CC BY
14HISTORICAL SCIENCES
UDC 94(83) «2011/2018»
Klochko M.O.
PhD (Philosophy), Associate Professor Sumy National Agrarian University, Ukraine Goncharenko A. V. PhD (History), Associate Professor Sumy State University, Ukraine DOI: 10.24412/2520-6990-2021-34121-7-9 CHILE AND MERCOSUR IN 2011-2018
Abstract.
The article analyses Chile's policy towards MERCOSUR in 2011-2018. There are considered the economic aspects of the economic integration of Latin American countries and the participation of Chile in them during the investigated period. Specific attention is paid to Chile as an associate member of MERCOSUR. Chile's bilateral relations with the MERCOSUR member states in 2011-2018 are analysed.
Key words: Chile, Mercosur, international relations, foreign affairs, regional integration.
One of the important factors determining the position of Chile in Latin America is the intensification of intraregional ties in the sphere of production, economy and finance, aimed at the formation of a single economic space. The development of integration on the continent has been Chile's foreign policy priority for a long time. Based on the accumulated experience and in difficult regional and global conditions, the next stage of unification processes is set in Latin America. For Chile, they are associated with a number of new phenomena and factors, not least due to the renewal of the government after the presidential and parliamentary elections at the end of 2017. Santiago sets itself the task of forming an integration centre to strengthen its position at the regional level. As a result, it is possible to observe the processes taking place within the country, which are of great importance in the formation of foreign policy - reducing state intervention in the economy, eliminating national restrictions on the regulation of financial and economic activities, enabling financial entities to influence the domestic economic situation, etc.
A crucial role in economic integration for Chile at the beginning of the XXI century is played by the Southern Common Market (Mercado Común del Sur, MERCOSUR) and the Pacific Alliance (Alianza del Pacífico). In the framework of the first unification, Chile acts as an associate member, participating in a large number of agreements and initiatives, and in the Pacific Alliance it is a full member. A kind of struggle of two vectors is observed between the two integration structures. An analysis of the foreign policy concepts of the MERCOSUR countries and the Pacific Alliance shows that most often support for each of the forms of integration is provided by political forces similar in their convictions [3]. In 2011, in connection with the creation of the Pacific Alliance, Chile began to seek a balance of mutually beneficial cooperation with both blocs. Such an opportunity was the potential rapprochement of associations, which would also allow overcoming the existing fragmentation in the region and problems within MERCOSUR, which in turn influenced a
change in the vision of its members for the further development of integration [5; 2, p. 120].
As part of their participation in MERCOSUR and the Pacific Alliance, Chile and Uruguay made efforts to strengthen ties between these integration associations, taking into account the fact that in 2016 both countries presided over their own bloc [2, p. 116]. Back in 2010, an investment partnership agreement was signed. This created conditions for the fact that by the end of 2015, Uruguay was ranked 6th among the countries receiving Chilean capital, which is mainly concentrated in the field of industry. It should be noted that prior to the signing of free trade agreements by Uruguay and Chile in the fall of 2016, all issues related to their trade and economic interaction were mainly regulated by agreements signed between Chile and MERCOSUR, and other bilateral agreements existed only as an addition [15]. In the sphere of trade, relations between the countries are at a rather low level. Chile's main imports are meat and legumes, while exports are semi-finished products for the preparation of soft drinks and wines. Chilean-Uruguayan trade balance in 20102016 was negative [14].
The weakest interaction was observed between Chile and Paraguay. Trade relations between the countries are mainly governed by the agreement signed within the framework of MERCOSUR. The dynamics began to change in 2016-2017, when Chilean imports grew by 20% and was distinguished by significant diversification. In addition to meat, Paraguay began to import rice from Chile, soy-based products, wine, tobacco and medicines, new business opportunities were opened, and the inflow of direct Chilean investments amounted to $ 300 million. Moreover, Paraguay in Chile was given a port for importing its goods from Asian countries [8]. At the level of foreign ministers, negotiations were held on the need to develop relations between MERCOSUR and the Pacific Alliance, this initiative was supported by the Inter-American Development Bank [7].
Chile's bilateral relations with Argentina and Brazil developed successfully even before the start of cooperation within the framework of MERCOSUR. The
8
HISTORICAL SCIENCES / <«g©LL©(MUM~JOy©MaL» 2©21
entry of the Chilean side into this association as an observer only strengthened the mechanisms of mutual cooperation. First, trade barriers were removed and the private sector was given relative leeway. Secondly, the states reached a new level of trust and found new problematic issues for a joint solution. Coupled with, Chile gained access to participation in meetings and other events of large regional cooperation with impact in the international arena [9; 2, p. 118].
The expansion of MERCOSUR in 2012, the accession of associate members, observer countries to it caused new socio-economic challenges that arose before the bloc [13]. The uneven economic development of the member states, financial difficulties, high inflationary risks and expectations in recent years have reduced the effectiveness of MERCOSUR and posed fundamental problems for its members: to play by the rules of unification (suffering from a lack of institutionalization, multidirectional exchange rate policies of the participants) or to take a course towards protectionist measures to protect national economies, abandon ineffective solutions and start looking for new markets and partners. Each country responded to this challenge in its own way.
In the context of the economic and political crisis in Venezuela, which led to the suspension of the country's membership in MERCOSUR from December 2, 2016, the members of the association began to formulate new goals and objectives in their economic regional and continental policies. In June 2016, at the summit of the Pacific Alliance, Argentine President M. Macri (2015-2019) declared the need to overcome the stagnation in MERCOSUR and seek contacts and forms of interaction between the two integration associations. This, in turn, can be considered as another reason for rapprochement between Chile and Argentina, while the economic leader of the association - Brazil -is subject to a deep political crisis and has unresolved social problems, which negatively affects the investment attractiveness of the country. Scientists note that the development of MERCOSUR de facto led to the dependence of the economies of small countries (Uruguay and Paraguay) on the Brazilian economy [12; 2, p. 122]. The most important economic feature of the development of the association was the strengthening of trade ties between its members, and foreign trade is developing at an extremely low rate.
Despite the increase in the presence of foreign capital in the region, by 2016 the development of MERCOSUR had stopped in search of a way out of the system of contradictions that had accumulated between the participating countries [1]. The maintenance of many tariff restrictions, the presence of protectionist measures, the uneven development of the economies of the participating countries, the right-wing drift of the region, political crises in Brazil, Paraguay, Venezuela forced the governments of the countries to seek new forms of regional integration, to make more effective and profitable decisions.
Provided that the goals of the union were not achieved and that serious political and economic problems emerged, new directions of economic integration become relevant for the countries of South America,
opening up prospects for cooperation with the dynamically developing economies of Asian countries for the governments of the region.
In spite of the existing problems at the level of political integration, within the framework of the economic partnership, both sides - both Chile and MERCOSUR - continue to successfully interact in the trade sphere. Within the region, the bloc countries are still leaders for Chile in terms of exports and imports. In 2017, Chilean exports to MERCOSUR countries amounted to $5.2 billion, and imports - $ 9.3 billion, which is actually two times higher than similar indicators of trade with the Pacific Alliance states, whose imports in the same year amounted to $4.1 billion and exports - $ 3.6 billion.
After being elected President of Chile in 2018, S. Pinera took action to revitalize integration associations in Latin America. The signing of agreements with Argentina and Brazil was approved, which, in addition to strengthening bilateral economic integration, contribute to enhancement of the relationship between MERCOSUR and the Pacific Alliance [6].
Some researchers predict the possibility of forming a free trade zone between MERCOSUR and the Pacific Alliance, which could eventually cover 9 states where 90% of GDP and 80% of the population of Latin America are concentrated [10, p. 53; 2, p. 113]. It should be noted that at the end of 2016, the countries belonging to MERCOSUR and traditionally focused on the Atlantic market began to look for ways to enter the Pacific political and economic structures, fearing that Pacific integration may become an instrument of US influence. As part of the implementation of the plan for possible cooperation, certain steps have already been taken: in April 2017, at the first meeting of foreign ministers, a roadmap was signed to expand cooperation and exchange information. This helped to determine such measures to facilitate mutual trade as the introduction of an electronic certificate of the country of origin of goods, the functioning of "one window" programs in foreign trade transactions, the development of customs cooperation [10; p. 53; 2, p. 114].
On the whole, despite the fact that integration played a large role in preserving regional stability, Chile did not consider the issue of joining as a full member of MERCOSUR, since trade agreements concluded with different countries separately allow keeping lower customs tariffs. At the same time, in the current situation, interest in other aspects of interaction between Chile and MERCOSUR continues to persist. There is also a search for ways of interaction between the association and the Pacific Alliance, since the last plays a more significant role in the context of Chile's foreign policy development strategy.
Literature
1. Alianza del Pacifico. URL: https://alianzapa-cifico.net/que-es-la-alianza/#la-alianza-delpacifico-y-sus-objetivos.
2. Aniskevich N.S. Chile's Foreign Policy in the Latin American Region: A Comparative Analysis of the Strategy and Tactics of Centre-Left and Centre-
Right Governments after the Restoration of Democracy: Ph.D. dissertation ...Candidate of Political Science: 23.00.04. M., 2019. 217 p.
3. Aniskevich N.S. Latin America between MERCOSUR and the Pacific Alliance: Political Risks and Regional Stability. Clio. 2017. № 9 (129). P. 136145.
4. Aniskevich N.S., Areli R.E. The Latin America's southern cone: the perspectives of interaction between Argentine, Chile and Uruguay in the XXI century. Actual problems of economics and management. 2017. № 4. P. 114-120.
5. Aranda Bustamante G., Riquelme Rivera J. Is it possible Convergence within Diversity?: Chile between the Alliance of the pacific and MERCOSUR. Revista de Relaciones Internacionales, Estrategia y Seguridad. 2015. V. 10. № 2. P. 155-178.
6. Chamber of Deputies approved Commercial Agreement between Chile and Argentina. URL: https ://minrel. gob.cl/minrel/noticias-anteriores/chamber-of-deputies-approved-commercial-agreement-between-chile-and.
7. Chile y Paraguay impulsan la relación Merco-sur/Alianza del Pacífico. URL: https://es.mercopress.com/2018/04/21/chile-y-paraguay-impulsan-la-relacion-mercosur-alianza-del-pacifico.
8. Comisión Mixta de Cooperación Técnica y Científica Paraguay - Chile aprobó 11 nuevos proyectos para el período 2017-2018. URL: http://www2.mre.gov.py/index.php/noticias/comision-
mixta-decooperacion-tecnica-y-cientifica-paraguay-chile-aprobo-11-nuevos-proyectos-para-el-periodo-2017-2018.
9. González Ríos I. Chile y MERCOSUR: revisión de antecedentes con miras a la segunda década del siglo XXI. VII Congreso del IRI/I Congreso del Co-FEI/II Congreso de la FLAEI. La Plata, 2014.
10. Kostyunina G.M., Kozlova O.A. Region-wide integration initiatives in Latin America. Economic horizons. 2018. № 1. P. 51-56.
11. Kudeyarova N.Yu. Continuity of Uruguayan Centre-Left: The Return of Tabare Vasquez. Latin America. 2015. № 3. P. 25-42.
12. Kuznetsov D.A. Latin American integration and sub-regionalization: political and ideological dimension. Comparative politics. V. 6. № 3 (20). P. 6584.
13. MERCOSUR: Development Challenges and Business Opportunities: Report 2014. Bering-Bellingshausen Institute for the Americas. URL: http://ibbamer-icas.com/project/data/files/Re-portSvop%20IBBA%20(rus.).pdf.
14. Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores. Gobierno de Chile. Export/ Import Chile. URL: https://chile.gob.cl/uruguay/en/asunto s-comerciales/oficina-comercial/exportaciones-importaciones/.
15. Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores. Gobierno de Chile. Relaciones Bilaterales con Uruguay. URL: https://chile.gob.cl/uruguay/relacion-bilateral/.
