On the political level, it certainly is (Though there are exception, see the US anti-missile initiative and how Poland and the Czech Republic handle this; this is a result of member states guarding their independence jealously), however, there are probably quite a lot of exceptions.
However, economically, the EU is mostly creating an inner market, and standardizing/normalizing the member markets/regulations. In that capacity, the import of DVD players from Japan cannot be regulated by France, in deed.
While it may look like it, the EU is not a whole entity, acting in concert on many levels. Quite the contrary is true, depending on what we are talking about, especially if we take older treaties into account (like France and the Mediterranean states in Africa).
The long and short of it: The EU can be treated as one market if you want to export into it, but not when importing from member states.
Errrr.. getting back to the original topic: The OECD can treat the whole EU as one, but it generally does not, since the member states are very diverse in their markets and economies. So, my guess is that the US, and Germany, France, or Poland are treated very similar in regard to OECD statistics, at least as reported by German media. I add, though, that this perspective might be skewed, and the OECD's EU statistics are broken down to the member states by the media / member state governments.
Frankly, I lack the insight into how the OECD works, to make any firm statements (which is true for the EU in general, too, since I have the insider's perspective, and that can change a lot). |
