The Great Recession, Brexit, the trade war between China and the USA, the pandemic crisis, and the regional wars (Russia-Ukraine and the Middle East) have opened the way to a reorganization of the global value chains and international trade. The EU in particular is facing crucial challenges regarding the internal equilibria between member countries as well as the external relations and the balance between superpowers in an uncertain geopolitical landscape. In this opening article of the Special Issue on “The Future of Global Value Chains and International Trade: An EU perspective”, we review the evolution of international trade and discuss the recent changes in the EU’s trade patterns looking at intermediate, consumption, and capital goods. We provide an overview of the contents of the Special Issue, which we organized by theme. Our analysis raises some issues and sets the stage for the following analyses and future research.

大衰退、英国脱欧、中美贸易战、疫情危机、地区战争（俄罗斯、乌克兰和中东），为全球价值链和国际贸易重组开辟了道路。尤其是欧盟，在不确定的地缘政治格局下，面临成员国内部平衡、对外关系和超级大国平衡的严峻挑战。在《全球价值链与国际贸易的未来：欧盟视角》特刊的开篇文章中，我们回顾了国际贸易的演变，并从中间品、消费和资本方面讨论了欧盟贸易格局的近期变化。商品。我们概述了按主题组织的特刊内容。我们的分析提出了一些问题，并为以下分析和未来的研究奠定了基础。