EU ADVANCEMENT WITHIN THE WORLD TRADE: AN OVERVIEW OF THE LAST YEARS

Abstract

The expansion of global trade gained considerable force in the last decade, force that generated many transformations and changes. These transformations represent stronger improvements than expected, when compared with the preceding years, even if the trade growth remained below the average rate recorded in the ‘90s. Some of the improvements are supposed to be consequences of free trade areas expansion. In this sense the present paper aims to observe if the free trade agreements increased the members’ international trade and how much a stronger union perform comparing to a weaker one. It analyses the effects of total trade made by the members of the main five free trade agreements: EU, NAFTA, ASEAN, MERCOSUR, and ANDEAN PACT, between 2000 and 2010. In order to analyse the effects of the total trade made by the members of these unions, the authors used data collected from the WTO International Trade Statistics published in 2009 and 2011. For each one of the five unions was built a distinct chart which illustrates the variation of exports and imports during the analysed period of time, as well as the trends of these operations over these years. Comparing all these charts they concluded that EU trade significantly increased as more countries joined the group, in contrast to the other groups which maintained their level along the time. Moreover they have noted a gap between the exports and imports performed by EU and the ones performed by the other unions. EU commercial exchanges were by far superior to the ones of the other areas and, in the same time, the EU trade fluctuations are broader than the ones of the other areas. Perhaps in the next period of time the commercial exchanges of UE and NAFTA will enhance with these areas whose potential has not been fully harnessed. On the other hand, creating a large common market the EU - NAFTA will most certainly constitute a guarantee for global economic stability and sustained economic growth.

Keywords

• openness to trade; free trade agreements; expansion of global trade; EU enlargement; EU advancement;