The Mercosur, Mercado Común del Sur (Common Market of the South) is an ambitious economic integration project which includes the founding members Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay. In 2008, Venezuela, Chile and Bolivia became associate members. Peru, Ecuador, Colombia have expressed their willingness to join the group, and Mexico has shown a growing interest. Mercosur’s main objective is to increase the efficiency and competitiveness of the all member economies by opening markets, promoting economic development in the framework of a globalized world, improving infrastructure and communications, making better use of available resources, preserving the environment, generating industrial complementation and coordinating macroeconomic policies. Achieving a common external tariff is one of the main goals of the block. Taken from About Mercosur.
Introduction
Mercosur’s Strategic Foundation (Dispatch) (Video Below)
Mercosur Rises to the World Stage (Video Below)
Latin America’s Economic Divide (Video Below)
Mercosur Official Website (in Spanish)
MercoPress: South Atlantic News Agency
Mercosur: South America’s Fractitious Trade Bloc – Council on Foreign Relations
Explainer: What is Mercosur – Americas Society/Council of the Americas
Profile: Mercosur – Common Market of the South – BBC
History
Mercosur: A brief history – Pulsamérica
Mercosur History (Timeline) – globalEDGE
Important Documents
Treaty of Ascuncion (in Spanish)
Protocol of Ouro Preto (1994) – (in Spanish)
Member States
Brazil
Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Brazil
Argentina
Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Argentina
Paraguay
Paraguay suspended from Mercosur (2012) – The Guardian
Uruguay
Uruguay: Pushing Back Against Brazil’s Labor Reform With Mercosur – Stratfor
Uruguay chair of Mercosur, targets accord with China, exhausted of negotiations with the EU – MercoPress
Venezuela
Why Mercosur is Stuck With Venezuela – American Quarterly
Mercosur Suspends Venezuela Urges Immediate Transition – Reuters
Bolivia
Bolivia in the Mercosur: what are the real benefits? – Centro studi sul federalismo: International Democracy Watch
External Trade Relations
Mercosur Moves Toward Trade Liberalization – Stratfor (Video Below)
European Union
EU is engaged with Free Trade talks with Mercosur – Council of the EU (Video Below)
EU and Mercosur – European Commission
The benefits of open trade with Mercosur (Speech) – European Commission
What to Expect from the Mercosur EU Agreement – Thomson Reuters
Mercosur-EU Free Trade Agreement: a bad deal for the public domain – Communia
Canada
Mercosur trade bloc – Benefits for Canada – Government of Canada
Using culture to strengthen Mercosur ties – Eric Fillion, Policy Options
East Asia
Mercosur free trade agreement could be signed by China and South Korea – Brazil Monitor
Reports and Articles
Southern American Common Market – Mariana Luna Pont, Centre for Studies on Federalism
Culture in the world of Mercosur – Juliette Dumont, INAGlobal
Common Market of the Southern Cone: MERCOSUR – The Impact of Economic Integration: A Case Study – International Labour Office
Mercosur Parliament – Centro studi sul federalismo: International Democracy Watch Report
Mercosur: Just An Ordinary Family? – Deutsche Welle
Further Reading on E-International Relations
- Online Resources – Union for the Mediterranean
- Online Resources – The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation
- Online Resources – The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development
- Online Resources – The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA)
- Online Resources – Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE)
- Online Resources – The Council of Europe
