gas - consumption:
489.4 billion cu m (2009 est.) country comparison to the world: 2
Natural gas - exports:
NA cu m
Natural gas - imports:
NA cu m
Natural gas - proved reserves:
2.242 trillion cu m (1 January 2010 est.) country comparison to the world: 18
Current account balance:
$NA (2009)
$51.4 billion (2009 est.)
Exports:
$1.952 trillion (2007) country comparison to the world: 1 $1.33 trillion (2005)
note: external exports, excluding intra-EU trade
Exports - commodities:
machinery, motor vehicles, aircraft, plastics, pharmaceuticals and other chemicals, fuels, iron and steel, nonferrous metals, wood pulp and paper products, textiles, meat, dairy products, fish, alcoholic beverages.
Imports:
$1.69 trillion (2007) country comparison to the world: 2 $1.466 trillion (2005)
note: external imports, excluding intra-EU trade
Imports - commodities:
machinery, vehicles, aircraft, plastics, crude oil, chemicals, textiles, metals, foodstuffs, clothing
Reserves of foreign exchange and gold:
$NA
Debt - external:
country comparison to the world: 2 $13.72 trillion (30 June 2010); This is the external debt for the euro area only; it excludes the external debt of the non-euro-area members of the EU
Stock of direct foreign investment - at home:
$NA
Exchange rates:
euros per US dollar - 0.7715 (2010), 0.7338 (2009), 0.6827 (2008), 0.7345 (2007), 0.7964 (2006)
Communications ::European Union
Telephones - main lines in use:
238 million (2005)
Telephones - mobile cellular:
466 million (2005)
Telephone system:
note - see individual country entries of member states
Internet country code:
.eu; note - see country entries of member states for individual country codes
Internet hosts:
140,277; note - this sum reflects the number of internet hosts assigned the .eu internet country code (2010)
Internet users:
247 million (2006)
Transportation ::European Union
Airports:
3,383 (2010)
Airports - with paved runways:
total: 1,992
over 3,047 m: 116
2,438 to 3,047 m: 340
1,524 to 2,437 m: 546
914 to 1,523 m: 422
under 914 m: 568 (2010)
Airports - with unpaved runways:
total: 1,391
over 3,047 m: 2
2,438 to 3,047 m: 1
1,524 to 2,437 m: 22
914 to 1,523 m: 254
under 914 m: 1,112 (2010)
Heliports:
99 (2010)
Railways:
total: 229,450 km (2008)
Roadways:
total: 5,919,704 km (2008)
Waterways:
52,332 km (2006)
Ports and terminals:
Antwerp (Belgium), Barcelona (Spain), Braila (Romania), Bremen
(Germany), Burgas (Bulgaria), Constanta (Romania), Copenhagen
(Denmark), Galati (Romania), Gdansk (Poland), Hamburg (Germany),
Helsinki (Finland), Las Palmas (Canary Islands, Spain), Le Havre
(France), Lisbon (Portugal), London (UK), Marseille (France), Naples
(Italy), Peiraiefs or Piraeus (Greece), Riga (Latvia), Rotterdam
(Netherlands), Stockholm (Sweden), Talinn (Estonia), Tulcea
(Romania), Varna (Bulgaria)
Military ::European Union
Military - note:
the five-nation Eurocorps - created in 1992 by France, Germany, Belgium, Spain, and Luxembourg - has deployed troops and police on peacekeeping missions to Bosnia-Herzegovina, Macedonia, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo and assumed command of the ISAF in Afghanistan in August 2004; Eurocorps directly commands the 5,000-man Franco-German Brigade, the Multinational Command Support Brigade, and EUFOR in Bosnia and Herzegovina; in November 2004, the EU Council of Ministers formally committed to creating 13 1,500-man battle groups by the end of 2007, to respond to international crises on a rotating basis; 22 of the EU's 27 nations have agreed to supply troops; France, Italy, and the UK formed the first of three battle groups in 2005; Norway, Sweden, Estonia, and Finland established the Nordic Battle Group effective 1 January 2008; nine other groups are to be formed; a rapid-reaction naval EU Maritime Task Group was stood up in March 2007 (2007)
Transnational Issues ::European Union
Disputes - international:
as a political union, the EU has no border disputes
