The European Union's Trade and COVID-19

Abstract

The article analyzes the course of the unprecedented economic crisis in the last century caused by the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic around the world. The COVID-19 pandemic affects all spheres of economic life, causing a huge collapse in international trade, a collapse in industrial production, and a reduction in the inflow of services and foreign investments. The aim of the article is to analyze the causes and the counteraction of the European Union’s breakdown in international trade turnover in 2020. The analysis uses a qualitative and quantitative method consisting in a review of international trade figures, statistics from Eurostat, World Trade Organization, IMF, and World Bank. The analysis examines the depth of the collapse of international trade, the most important entities in trade, including the European Union. The results of the economic analysis allow understanding the activities of the European Union institutions in the field of counteracting the negative effects of the collapse of international trade in the world and in the European Union.