Online ISSN 2286-0266
Print ISSN 1223-0685
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Agnes GHIBUŢIU
Academia Română
Iulia Monica OEHLER-ŞINCAI
Academia Română
The present paper examines the evolution of the EU’s trade in services over the 2004-2008 period in comparison with its trade in goods. It aims to disentangle the main trends shaping the EU’s services trade flows under the impact of increasing globalisation and the last two waves of EU enlargement. Relying on BoP trade statistics published by Eurostat and the WTO, the paper highlights the recent changes in the EU’s services flows in terms of dynamics, composition, trade balance as well as patterns of specialisation and integration into the internal and global market. It also reveals the main trends prevailing in the evolution of extra and intra-EU trade flows, and their relevance for the process of economic integration within the EU. The empirical investigation attempts to find the answers to the following questions: To what extent is the EU deriving benefits from the new growth opportunities opened up by the globalisation of services? How relevant are services flows from the perspective of the European economic integration? What are the effects of the global financial and economic crisis on the EU’s trade in services, and which are its future prospects? Following the answers to these questions, the paper is structured around five sections, and the last one concludes.

ŒCONOMICA no. 2/2010
Keywords: European Union, trade in services, trade in goods, economic integration, global financial and economic crisis
JEL: F14, F15, L80, O52
Schimburile cu servicii ale Uniunii Europene: tendinţe recente sub impactul globalizării şi al crizei economice