In recent years, the growing geopolitical and economic power of the BRICS has been increasingly emphasised in the media. The expansion of the association, the growing share of member states in global GDP and the increasing criticism of Western institutions by a number of states create a sense of the formation of an alternative centre of power. However, beyond the large-scale figures and high-profile statements, it is worth paying attention to the institutional and practical side of the issue. How capable is BRICS today of acting as a coordinated and functional union?
In comparison with the European Union, founded upon a system of supranational bodies, one legal space and coordination in an extensive number of spheres (from economic policy to migration), the BRICS remains primarily a political consultation forum. It lacks permanent governing bodies, binding decision-making or even approved long-term strategies. The summits are ongoing, but their outcomes are more declarative and are not always realized in practice.
One of the most striking examples of the lack of deep integration is the payment infrastructure. To date, there is no unified payment system among the BRICS countries, or at least no mechanism for mutual settlements that is resistant to external sanctions pressure. The Russian payment system ‘Mir’ is practically not accepted anywhere outside the country, including the BRICS countries. Attempts to promote settlements in national currencies face technical, legal and political barriers. Even at the domestic level, in tourism, the lack of integration is evident. Payment cards issued in one BRICS country often do not work in another. Domestic payment ecosystems such as WeChat Pay and AliPay in China are virtually inaccessible to foreigners, including tourists from partner countries. This forces travellers to use cash or workaround schemes, which reduces trust in the system and limits the development of bilateral consumer interaction.
BRICS at the current stage remains primarily a forum for political interaction rather than a full-fledged integration mechanism. In the meantime, the lack of even basic payment interoperability among the member countries indicates that the path from declaratory co-operation to a functional union is far from complete. Moreover, the participating countries, including China, India and Brazil, are mostly complying with the secondary sanctions imposed by Western countries against Russia.
