The European Union (EU) celebrated its 50th anniversary this year. What began as a free trade agreement for coal and steel between six Western European nations with the 1950 Paris Treaty has now become an elaborate — not to say complex — political and economical union of 27 countries. With a gross domestic product equivalent to that of the United States ($13 trillion) and one-and-a-half times as many people (460 million) in a much more concentrated area, the EU is a very attractive marketplace for businesses trading goods on a global scale.
However, the disparity and overall complexity of this market (not to mention the 15 different currencies, 24 official languages, 27 value-added tax, or VAT, regimes and other rather original pieces of legislation) create a unique business environment. As with most economic zones — such as the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) or South America's Mercosur — it is also a place where it is somewhat easier to trade from within.
