Organizações de Cooperação e Organizações de Integração: Análise Doutrinária da Classificação

This chapter examines the doctrinal distinction between “organizations of cooperation” and “organizations of integration” in international law. Although the two expressions are frequently used to describe different types of institutional relationships among States, no objective classification criterion has been firmly established. The study seeks to clarify the theoretical and legal bases underlying this distinction, emphasizing that organizations of cooperation are traditional international institutions based on coordination among sovereign States, while organizations of integration arise from a process of deeper solidarity that leads States to transfer sovereign competences to common institutions. The comparison identifies four main criteria distinguishing these categories: scope of competences, sources of law, institutional autonomy, and existence of judicial control mechanisms. Ultimately, while cooperation and integration differ in degree rather than in kind, the distinction remains analytically useful for understanding the evolution of international institutional law and the progressive transformation of international organizations from intergovernmental forums into entities with autonomous legal authority.