Developing the Mechanism of Foreign Economic Relations of the EU Countries in the Context of Implementing Priority Areas to Develop a Circular Economy

The paper examines the current economic state of the EU countries and analyzes the key strategies and programs, specifically, the New Industrial Strategy for Europe and the new Circular Economy Action Plan implemented by the countries of the integration group. The theoretical and methodological basis of the research includes the historical and logical, dialectical principles and contradictions, and the method of scientific abstraction. The process-system approach, used in an in-depth analysis of the key economic indicators of the union members, was critical in justifying the need to develop a mechanism for foreign economic relations between countries in the context of implementing key strategies and programs for the development of Europe. Thus, a detailed analysis of the key strategies implemented in the EU countries is conducted, their timeliness and applicability are assessed, and the positions of leading Russian and international scholars on the issues of the transition of the EU countries to a circular economy and a new world economic context are studied. Thus, the research pays special attention to calculating economic indicators, particularly the index of industrial production, to identify changes in the scale of production in the EU countries. Besides that, the forecast data for this indicator is calculated up to the year 2025. The research then estimates oil and gas production volumes in some EU countries to identify a general trend in using these resources in the integration group. Also, the research defines the share of expenditures on environmental protection in the EU. The research presents the main elements and features of the new Circular Economy Action Plan, identifies the key areas for developing a circular production process, and describes the main opportunities that the EU might receive in case of its implementation. Based on this plan, the research developed a mechanism for the relationships between key economic bodies of the EU, which focus on the production and consumption of environmentally friendly products and the transition to innovation and digitalization. © 2023, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.