This paper introduces the idea of the EU as a 'model' of regional integration, linking it to the literature on Europe as a normative power. The second part discusses the influence of the EU model on regional cooperation and integration in South America. In particular, it focuses on the discursive use of the model in Brazilian foreign policy during the two tenures of President Luis Inacio Lula da Silva as a dominant rhetoric for the promotion of regional integration, especially in the case of the Mercado Común del Sur(Common Market of the South, MERCOSUR) and the Unión de Naciones Suramericanas (Union of South American Nations, UNASUR). The last part looks at the impact of the financial crisis on the 'deconstruction' of this ideal model of European integration and attempts to discern how this will influence the future discourse on regional cooperation integration in South America, and primarily in Brazil. To illustrate the shift that has occurred in Brazilian views of regionalism, this part also discusses the Brazilian support of a new form of regional integration, as embodied in the creation of CELAC, the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States.