ABSTRACT
The world economy, especially international trade in goods and services, was already slowing before the COVID pandemic hit the headlines in early 2020. Mercosur’s sparse institutional structure relies on three main decision-making organs: the Common Market Council, the Common Market Group, and the Mercosur Trade Commission. Mercosur regionalism developed along three fronts: widening membership and co-operation with other economies and/or regional organisations, deepening regional integration, and shifting the focus of integration efforts. Regionalism also implies deepening intra-regional relations on a number of fronts, such as trade in goods and services, investment, infrastructure links, regulatory regimes, migration, and cultural exchange. Inter-presidentialism or reliance on presidential diplomacy is an alternative approach to analysing and explaining Mercosur regionalism. Inter-presidentialism was especially effective in maintaining the status quo or settling disputes informally, with minimal need to deviate from Mercosur’s inter-governmental governance style. Mercosur is an excellent example of how even economic logic of integration requires diplomacy to develop and sustain regionalism.
