Mercosul and the construction of environmental policy for Southern Cone countries

From 1991, when Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay agreed to create the Mercosur, until now, a relative advance occurred in the process of commercial integration of these countries. However, a small progress has been verified in this forum of discussion in what concerns the environmental questions. This article aims to analyze the way that the environmental question is been managed in the various institutionalized legal instruments of Mercosur, showing the different attempts to adopt steps with a view to harmonize the environmental legislation, as well as the reasons for the establishment of a common policy of environmental protection within the process of regional integration, without this entailing the unification of the environmental policies of the different country members of Mercosur. Keywords: Asunción Treaty, Mercosur, Environmental Question, Commercial Integration, Ouro Preto Protocol