[20151008]IF10306_欧洲联盟和南方共同市场.pdf

https:/crsreports.congress.gov Updated October 8, 2015The European Union and MercosurOn June 10-11, 2015, the European Union (EU) hosted the second EU-Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) Summit in Brussels. This summit, attended by the heads of state and foreign ministers of the 33 members of the CELAC, was the most recent example of the EUs long-term interest in, and maintenance of, its political and economic relations with the Latin America and Caribbean (LAC) region. At the conclusion of the EU-CELAC summit on June 11, a European Union-Mercosur Ministerial meeting was also held in Brussels as part of a long-standing relationship between the EU and the nations of Mercosur. One of Latin Americas largest regional integration projects, the bloc consists of Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay, and Venezuela. Bolivias membership was approved in 2015 and is awaiting ratification by Brazil and Uruguay. Mercosur functions as a customs union and free-trade area. Although they do not have free trade in all areas among the member countries, they do have a common external tariff. The bloc has ambitions to become a common market along the lines of the European Union. At