Evropská unie a její role ve světové ekonomice

Abstract

The European Union is both an official economic union and a unique supranational community of 27 states in Europe. They are undoubtedly among the main players and the most important trade players in the world economy. At present, together with the United States of America and China, they form the world's three major economic centers. The bachelor's thesis aims to characterize and evaluate the current position of the European Union throughout the world economy, focusing on its size and position in international trade in goods services and investment within the Union, based on an analysis of available data. Attention will also be paid to the European Union's cooperation and trade relations with third countries. The work is divided into three core chapters. The first is focused on the theory of the formation and evolution of the world economy. It deals with the formation of the world's major economic centres and their overall conditions of political and economic development after the Second World War, but also captures their current economic situation. The second part of the work focuses on the European Union's common trade policy, its strategies, instruments and bilateral trade agreements with third countries. Trade relations within the Union are characterised in this chapter, but this section also focuses on the EU's external trade. At the same time, the work will add to the size of the European Union's internal and external trade. The final, third chapter, focuses on an analysis of the European Union's position in international trade and its most important key trading partners. It addresses the evolution of trade relations with core economies such as the United States of America and China. Given the importance of trade relations with the United Kingdom, as a former Member State of the Union, the final chapter focuses on cooperation with this important trading partner.