ABSTRACT
The European Union (EU) has undergone several profound crises during the past decade but nevertheless remains the prime global trading power and still surpasses both the USA and the People’s Republic of China. Currently, there are 28 member states (EU-28) which exported goods worth approximately €1,702 billion and services worth over €700 billion to economies around the world in 2013-14. This amounted to a global share of trade in goods and services of around 16 per cent, compared with around 13 per cent for the USA, 12.9 per cent for China, 4.9 per cent for Japan, 1.6 per cent for the Russian Federation and 1.1 per cent for India.1 The EU’s trade is equally dependent on imports and exports but overall has strengthened its exports in recent years. This is reflected in the latest figures which show that global exports from the EU-28 increased to €156.8 billion in September 2017, which equals growth of 9 per cent in the total number of exports in the first half of 2017. During 2017 the EUmember states also collectively managed to reverse the negative global trade balance which the single market had suffered in 2016. While it still stood at –1.6 per cent in September 2016, with the total level of imports outweighing exports by €149 billion to €147.4 billion, a total export volume of €156.8 billion exceeded the total import volume of €153.7 billion. The EU’s export volume in 2016 was particularly boosted by growth in trade with Russia (21.4 per cent), China (18.8 per cent), the Republic of Korea (South Korea) (16.9 per cent) and Switzerland (11.5 per cent).2 Moreover, the EU retains the largest share of global trade in services, where it even surpasses the USA.3
