Editing European Union (section)

====Customs union====
{{Main|European Union Customs Union}}
[[File:EU Customs Union.svg|thumb|upright=1|[[European Customs Union]]
 {{Leftlegend|#003399|[[Member state of the European Union|EU member states]]}}
 {{Leftlegend|#a050ff|Non-EU states which participate}}
]]

<!-- European Customs Union -->
The customs union involves the application of a [[common external tariff]] on all goods entering the market. Once goods have been admitted into the market they cannot be subjected to customs duties, discriminatory taxes or [[import quota]]s, as they travel internally. The non-EU member states of [[Iceland]], [[Norway]], [[Liechtenstein]] and [[Switzerland]] participate in the single market but not in the customs union.<ref name="EEA">{{Cite web |last=European Commission |title=The European Economic Area (EEA) |url=http://eeas.europa.eu/eea/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101202041812/http://eeas.europa.eu/eea/ |archive-date=2 December 2010 |access-date=10 February 2010 |publisher=Europa web portal}}</ref> Half the trade in the EU is covered by legislation harmonised by the EU.<ref name="Europa Single Market G">{{Cite web |last=European Commission |title=A Single Market for goods |url=http://ec.europa.eu/internal_market/top_layer/index_18_en.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070621214532/http://ec.europa.eu/internal_market/top_layer/index_18_en.htm |archive-date=21 June 2007 |access-date=27 June 2007 |publisher=Europa web portal}}</ref>

<!-- European Union Association Agreement -->
The [[European Union Association Agreement]] does something similar for a much larger range of countries, partly as a so-called soft approach ('a carrot instead of a stick') to influence the politics in those countries.
The European Union represents all its members at the [[World Trade Organization]] (WTO), and acts on behalf of member states in any disputes. When the EU negotiates trade related agreement outside the WTO framework, the subsequent agreement must be approved by each individual EU member state government.<ref name="Se-jeong" />