Analýza importní závislosti Evropské unie

Abstract

The main objective of the bachelor’s thesis is to identify product groups that exhibit signs of strategic import dependency for the EU. In the thesis, strategic import dependency is assessed based on the methodology of the European Commission using three criteria: external import exposure, substitutability of imports by domestic production, and the concentration of suppliers.

The theoretical part of the thesis focuses on the definition of international and foreign trade, the development of international trade theories, and the economic characteristics and history of the EU.

With regard to the objective of the thesis, the practical part focuses on the application of the individual criteria of strategic import dependency to selected product groups. The practical part also includes an analysis of the development of EU imports and their commodity and geographical structure.

The analysis of the European Union’s strategic import dependency revealed that high import dependency is concentrated primarily in the area of energy and mineral materials. The identified high-risk product groups include oil, natural gas, coal, rubber, copper ores, and iron ores. Coal was identified as the most strategically dependent product group, as it was the only group to simultaneously meet all three monitored criteria of import dependency. Based on the obtained results, the thesis emphasizes the importance of supplier diversification and strengthening domestic production capacity in order to reduce the EU’s vulnerability to external economic and geopolitical shocks.