At once the EU stands as the most potent symbol of, and the major force behind, the contemporaryregionalisation of trade. The EU's sphere of influence in world trade has steadily grown to effectively undermine the purpose of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) and multilateralism. Through both a widening (from the original 6 to the current 15) and deepening, the EU has become the major trade bloc in the world economy; one which has become powerful enough to frustrate the GATT under the leadership of the US. Furthermore, the EU's influence on world trade does not end there, it extends through its trade relations with much of the rest of the world.