Mercosur Report No 26: MERCOSUR: Strategic Divergences and Pragmatic Consensus

From the Institute for the Integration of Latin America and the Caribbean (INTAL), from the Integration and Trade sector (INT), from the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), we work on issues linked to the consolidation of the integration processes of the region, and the strengthening of trade policies. In this framework, the MERCOSUR Report is one of the studies systematically prepared by INTAL, which allows us to visualize the trajectory of this integration process. This edition, which analyzes the situation of the bloc between January 2022 and June 2023, finds a Mercosur seeking to respond to internal and external challenges, given the profound changes in the international scenario. In this regard, the member countries have expressed a series of shared diagnoses and consensus around the grand narratives of regional integration. The period analyzed here has shown some results to strengthen integration and renew the importance of the regional project. Mercosur expands the scope of regional integration, with a rich agenda of technical, political and social cooperation; but this construction is done without having consolidated the foundational economic integration, relative to trade flows. The report also analyzes the material base and the great potential that the region has for the development of biotechnology, as a key tool that can contribute to adding value to the export of goods from the bloc.