Toscouné criteria

  

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The Toscouné criteria are the rules that define whether or not a country is ready to become a member state of the Conference of American States. The basic criteria require that a state has the institutions to preserve democratic governance and human rights, maintain civilian control over its armed forces, has a functioning market economy, and accepts the obligations and intent of the CAS, including the Foreign Regional Security Policy. The rules were first codified at the 1987 American Council meeting in Toscouné, Manitoba, from which they receive their name.

Over the decades the specific requirements have been formally made into law by the legislative authority of the American Parliament and the American Secretariat, as well as by rulings of the American Court of Justice. However there continues to be controversy and disagreement among member states on the definitions and extent of certain criteria, and no official mechanism exists to determine whether or not existing member states still fulfill all of the conditions, although the Court of Justice has made rulings related to certain requirements with individual member states.

Membership criteria

The Treaty on the Conference of American States (TCAS) or the Treaty of Seattle states in Article 3 that membership in the Conference of American States is open to "any American State that meets the criteria for governance, rule of law, and a free market economy." Article 49 establishes that the qualifications of a country to join with respect to any of the criteria is up to be evaluated by the American Council and the American Parliament. The current laws defining the conditions for membership in the Conference of American States include the following:

• Articles 3 and 49 of the Treaty of Seattle — setting the basic qualifications
• The Toscouné declaration of the American Council — describing general policies in more detail
  • legal
  • political
  • economic
• Accession treaty framework with individual states
  • specific conditions for a country's particular circumstances

Geographic requirements

Based on Article 49 of the Seattle Treaty, the Court of Justice has ruled that the American Council and Parliament, in their role of evaluating a state's qualifications for membership, can chose the political definition of what is considered an "American state."

Since 2005, Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands have been in talks for membership in the CAS despite being located in the Western Pacific Ocean.

Several non-American states that have overseas territories in the Americas can still have extensive close ties with the CAS that are between membership and other non-members, in the form of the American Neighborhood Policy (ANP). The ANP sets out a framework for integration between the CAS and third countries that have a special relationship with the members of the CAS. Currently this group only includes France, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom.

Economic requirements

The economic requirements are more broad than the political and legal criteria, but generally require a state to have a functioning market economy that is capable of competing within the existing American Single Market of the CAS. Discussions have been underway since the 1990s about the adoption of the Amero as a common currency for all CAS states, but as of 2023 they are still in the preliminary phase, and the proposal has faced significant opposition among members.

Legislative alignment

Outside of the Toscouné criteria but defined by legislation and court rulings, is the requirement that state must pass legislation to bring its laws closely in line with the CAS on certain categories, with as many as 35 chapters of areas where legislation is needed. This is done during the application process through the framework agreement for the Accession Treaty of each candidate country.