TRADE STRATEGY OF THE EUROPEAN UNION OR HOW TO COMPETE WITH THE WORLD

The European Union is the largest trading power in the world, but this position is not unchangeable and the EU, as well as other developed countries, is recording a successive decline of the share in world trade in favor of some fast growing economies. In addition, the EU needs not only exports, but also imports. In an effort to open up foreign markets for the EU’s producers and exporters and to maintain the EU’s leading position in world trade in the future, the European Commission creates trade strategies in which it sets out priorities for the given period. The paper discusses the changes that occurred in the territorial structure of the EU’s merchandise trade in the period of 2006-2011 and shows the problem areas in which the hidden potential for the EU’s trade expansion lies.