Special Eurobarometer 357: International Trade

The European Union is an active member of the World Trade Organisation that promotes free trade in the world. In the WTO, the European Union is actively involved in the Doha Development Round which began in 2001. Since 2007, it has also been engaged in a number of bilateral trade negotiations for a new general of trade agreements with countries such as India, Ukraine, Canada, as well as completing negotiations earlier this year on trade deals with Peru and Colombia and the countries of Central America, as well as signing a far-reaching agreement in October 2010 with South Korea. In November 2010, the European Commission launches a new trade policy. The main objective of this new policy will be to ensure that the development of international trade is a vector of job creation in the European Union. In his State of the Union speech, the President of the European Commission José Manuel Barroso announced the main objective of this new policy: “We also want to see support for the Doha Round. Trade boosts growth and prosperity. We will also pursue bilateral and regional Free Trade Agreements. In October, the Commission will present a renewed trade policy to drive new benefits for Europe.” In this context, the Trade Directorate-General (DG TRADE) of the European Commission has been keen to measure public opinion on international trade, in order to: - Assess the impact of international trade on the lives of EU consumers - Evaluate the role of the EU in international trade - Assess the future challenges of European Union trade policy Two-thirds of Europeans think that the EU has benefited a lot from international trade. As for their individual experience, more people think that they are personally benefiting from trade today than disagree. Half of Europeans are aware of the origin of the products and services they purchase. This awareness is higher for some items (62% for food) than for others (44% for high-tech services such as a mobile phone provider). A relative majority of Europeans thought that the EU was the biggest world player in international trade. Nearly two thirds of respondents thought that European products and services can compete well with those from outside the EU. More than six in ten Europeans on average believe that the priority for future EU trade policy should be to create employment. #####The results by volumes are distributed as follows: * Volume A: Countries * Volume AA: Groups of countries * Volume A' (AP): Trends * Volume AA' (AAP): Trends of groups of countries * Volume B: EU/socio-demographics * Volume B' (BP) : Trends of EU/ socio-demographics * Volume C: Country/socio-demographics ---- Researchers may also contact GESIS - Leibniz Institute for the Social Sciences: [https://www.gesis.org/eurobarometer](https://www.gesis.org/eurobarometer)