ABSTRACT
The European Union (EU) is the world’s largest single trading entity, accounting for something over 20% of total world trade. Although historically its strengths have been based on exchange of manufactures and industrial goods, increasingly the EU’s international economic presence reflects its leading role in the international service economy, which by some estimates accounts for something like 60% of its international activity. In 1996, according to provisional figures issued by Eurostat, the EU’s statistical agency, the EU ran a trade surplus of ECU46.3 billion with the rest of the world, reflecting exports of ECU620 billion and imports of ECU573.7 billion.1 The EU is thus not only a major presence in the world trading system; it also trades at a profit.
