ABSTRACT
Over the last two decades, the member states of the European Union (EU) have further deepened their economic integration through the Single European Act and the Economic and Monetary Union. Meanwhile, the EU has continued its widening through several enlargements, including countries that differ with respect to their economic development and geographical location. In response to these changes, Canada, the United States and Mexico have recently set up the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), while Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay have formed MERCOSUR, an imperfect custom union aiming at gradually creating a common market in the Southern Cone of the American continent.
