Rep. Aécio Neves, President of the Brazilian Chamber of Deputies

"It is licit to assume that the American countries find themselves in perplexity, at the awesome magnitude of the FTAA project and at the still uncertain consequences such endeavor is expected to create for each nation in the hemisphere. While attractive benefits can be expected from the creation of a broad integrated economic area, there are continued and justified concerns resulting from the uncertain contours to be adopted by said Free Trade Area. In particular, it is not yet possible to forecast who the winners and losers will be in each country as a result of continental integration. In like manner, one cannot be sure as to whether the move towards the FTAA will be a driving force of a new growth phase for Latin America, or, on the contrary, just an element exacerbating the secular disparities in social fairness and economic progress between rich and poor countries in our continent.

For this reason, information becomes key for any American country willing to efficiently defend its interests, now that negotiations have been brought to a more substantial level. It is necessary that the entire society – and not just the government leaders or the economically relevant segments – have access to a broader range of information, so decisions can be made in an effective and responsible manner.

Few institutions in the hemisphere are more accredited than the parliaments to gauge the desires of society and to serve as a link between citizens and the key negotiators in the integration process presently in motion. Representing the essence of their respective national societies, while echoing their virtues and setbacks, parliaments constitute an instrument par excellence for legitimating a process which, without popular support, may take on an impositive aspect that is contradictory to the democratic rule prevailing in the region.

In the 21st Century, the complexity of modern societal relations makes unfeasible the practice of direct democracy, that is, the participation of every citizen in national and supranational decisions without the intermediation of representatives. However, determining the future of nations outside the context of effective society participation in decision-making would be equally illegitimate. Harmonizing these two apparently antagonist premises will necessarily involve the parliaments. In fact, reconciling these two political facts may be the most important mission and the hardest challenge for modern-day legislative assemblies.

In acknowledgment of the important role played by parliaments in the decisions leading to a prospective hemispheric integration, the idea of a Parliamentary Summit for Hemispheric Integration came to be. The central aim of such a meeting shall be to discuss effective mechanisms through which national parliaments can participate in the process conducting to hemispheric integration. The participation of parliaments in all phases of negotiation, and not just in the enactment of agreements, may make all the difference between success and failure regarding the legitimacy of such integration and its acceptance by the civil society. The Summit will give parliamentarians in the Americas and other regions in the world the opportunity to discuss the relevance of the parliamentary participation in national decisions geared to processes of integration, as well as a chance to exchange information, perspectives, concerns, preoccupations, and solutions."