In fact, despite some political and economic achievements, Mercosur has largely failed to advance the “open regionalism” – economic interdependence and further integration into the world economy through preferential liberalization and deregulation agreements ��� that the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean proposed two decades ago. Mercosur members have established almost no free-trade agreements with other countries, and the agreement that they have been negotiating for several years with the European Union remains out of reach, apparently because of opposition from Argentina.