ABSTRACT
The processes of European unification and increasing international competition have made international perspectives on European distribution increasingly important for the top management of large international corporations. This chapter deals with a general description of European unification and the factors associated with it. European unification and marketplace trends have brought European distribution processes to the point at which massive change is inevitable. There are several reasons for the growing interest in this area. Besides the aforementioned opportunities and threats arising from the single European market, various other factors are also encouraging the process of logistical integration and rationalisation. Numerous studies have shown that labour costs are higher in various European countries than in the United States and Japan, for example. The growing homogenisation of the European market has given companies greater scope to integrate and rationalise their logistical subsystems.
