Sources of Competitiveness for the EU Global Logistics Power

In the global economic era, direct investment behaviour in different countries and regions encourages local production, which promotes local procurement. This has brought about structural changes in companies’ logistics behaviour, and their strategic operation will ultimately rely on postponement of procurement behaviours, based on freight rate expectations. From this perspective, this chapter analyses the superiority of EU logistics competitiveness in the global context, concentrating on air- and sea-logistics service demand substitution behaviour of shippers and forwarders in 11 countries and regions using either the EU (European Union) or US as export bases. By focusing on marginal areas where both modes collide, the functions of factors that determine each country and region’s logistics competitiveness can be grasped more clearly, and the results can be quickly utilised in policy making sufficient to provide evidence of EU’s competitive advantage. Based on these results, there are two distinct advantages of the EU-based logistics model: first, it is equipped with a self-adjusting system that always corrects irrational country behaviour; and, second, the principles of coexistence and co-prosperity are entrenched in the model, encouraging equitable competitive opportunities for underdeveloped logistics contexts.