Publication

Mercosur has long been the most important project of economic integration in South America, though significant asymmetries between member states and different views on integration have been contributing to a slow pace of consolidating the bloc. Currently an uncompleted customs union, Mercosur has been persistently seeking to be relevant to its members and foreign partners. The development of the bloc has always strongly depended on Brazil, which has been instrumental in shaping the agenda and institutional framework while using Mercosur as a useful vehicle to carry out its own regional and global ambitions.