28/9/2011 00:00:00
According to Eurostat data, in the last 10 years there has been an increase in trade between the European Union to 27 countries and 6 Eastern European Partners (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine), despite a marked decline in 2009. From 2000 to 2008 exports increased from 8.8 billion to a peak of 37.1 billion euro. The surplus of trade balance has grown from 1 billion euro in 2010 to 4.4 billion in 2010. Half of the trade with the Eastern partners involved Germany, Italy and Poland: Germany was the largest exporter (26% of total exports), while Italy was the largest importer (35% of total imports).