The Variable Geometry in the Experience of Regional Organizations in Developing Countries

Resumen

Differentiation represents a structural feature not only of the European integration, where it has a limited application, but also and particularly of the regional organizations established outside Europe, where variable geometry is often a typical element of interstate cooperation. Indeed most of such organizations, operating in developing countries, are based on this principle. In practice the variable geometry translates into the fact that each act, produced within the institutional structure in order to pursue the organization’s aims, is submitted for consideration to the member states, who are free to accept it and then to incorporate it into the national legal system with a further approval given in accordance with domestic law. This approach implies that all the member states are bound only by provisions originally set out in the basic treaty, while the secondary law adopted to implement statutory rules concerning both substantive and institutional matters bind only the willing states which have given their consent. So, even if the variable geometry is formally intended as a principle of flexibility allowing for progression in cooperation among a sub-group of members, in practice its application can lead to the fragmentation of the integration process by instituting differences and preventing a real in-depth interstate cooperation.