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Differentiation represents a structural feature not only of the European integration but also of the regional organizations established outside Europe. Indeed most of them, operating in developing countries are based on the principle of variable geometry. In practice the latter translates in 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 substantial 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 it leads to the fragmentation of the integration process by instituting differences and preventing a real in-depth interstate cooperation.
