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Under årens lopp har EU rört sig bort från produktion av arbetsintensiva, billiga produkter för att specialisera sig på mer högkvalitativa märkesvaror. Med sin öppna ekonomi är EU helt beroende av handeln. För att överbrygga handelshinder och skapa likvärdiga förutsättningar för sina företag förhandlar unionen om ett antal frihandelsavtal. EU är också en av grundarna till och en nyckelaktör inom Världshandelsorganisationen (WTO).

Världshandelsorganisationen (WTO) verkar för införandet av ett regelbaserat internationellt handelssystem. Trots dödläget i handelsförhandlingarna undersöker man möjligheter att modernisera WTO:s regler och hantera de nya globala utmaningarna. I enlighet med Lissabonfördraget är Europaparlamentet likställt med rådet som lagstiftare, och parlamentet ska godkänna alla ändringar och nya WTO-avtal och spelar en viktig roll i granskningen av den internationella handelspolitiken.

EU:s utvecklingspolitik betonar handelns betydelse och fokuserar på de länder som har störst behov. Det allmänna preferenssystemet ger vissa varor från utvecklingsländer förmånstillträde till EU:s marknad. Avtal om ekonomiskt partnerskap säkerställer förmånsbehandling för länder i Afrika, Karibien (tidigare Västindien) och Stillahavsområdet, medan de minst utvecklade länderna omfattas av ”Allt utom vapen”-systemet. Dessa system överensstämmer med Världshandelsorganisationens (WTO) regler.

The EU-Ukraine Association Agreement is the main tool for bringing Ukraine and the EU closer together: it promotes deeper political ties, stronger economic links and the respect for common values. The Agreement was negotiated between 2007 and 2011, signed in 2014, and entered into force on 1 September 2017 after unanimous ratification by EU Member States. The Association Agreement includes a Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area (DCFTA) between the EU and Ukraine that has been provisionally applied ...

As part of the Conference on the Future of Europe, 800 citizens debated their ideas for the European Union in four thematic panels. The citizens involved in Panel 4 considered the possibilities for two related themes: the EU in the world and migration. This publication presents their recommendations, as well as a selection of related European Parliament resolutions and EU legislation, funding programmes and other activities. These background elements are not exhaustive, but have been selected to ...

The Commission Executive Vice-President/Commissioner-designate, Valdis Dombrovskis, appeared before the European Parliament on 02 October 2020 to answer questions put by MEPs from the Committee on International Trade, in association with the Committees on Foreign Affairs, on Economic and Monetary Affairs, on Development and on Budgets. During the hearing, he made a number of commitments which are highlighted in this document. These commitments refer to his portfolio as Trade Commissioner, as described ...

The Commissioner-designate, Phil Hogan, appeared before the European Parliament on 30 September 2019 to answer questions from MEPs in the Committee on International Trade (INTA). During the hearing, he made a number of commitments which are highlighted in this document. These commitments refer to his portfolio, as described in the mission letter sent to him by Ursula von der Leyen, President-elect of the European Commission, including: - A level playing field for all; - Strengthening Europe’s ...

The European Union (EU) is the biggest integrated economic zone and a guarantor of an open and predictable regulatory system able to determine its own economic destiny. But the behaviour of other global powers is increasingly calling this ability into question. China and the United States, especially, do not separate economic interests from geopolitical interests in the same way the EU does and are increasingly trying to gain geopolitical advantage using their economic might. The EU is known as ...