The main purpose of the article is to define a methodical approach to the evaluation of international trade within the framework of ensuring the sustainable development of EU countries in the context of the formation of a marketing strategy. The object of the study is the system of international trade regulation of the EU countries. The article aims to develop a methodical approach for evaluating international trade, with the goal of promoting sustainable development in EU countries in the context of the formation of a marketing strategy. The methodology includes the method of intellectual analysis using the technique of the association method. The use of the association method allows, at the first stage of analysis, to identify possible hidden dependencies and patterns in a large array of statistical data. The main result of the study is the presented graph, which is able to determine hidden dependencies and regularities in the framework of international trade optimization through a large array of data. The innovativeness of the research involves the application of a modern methodical approach to the economic and legal regulation of international trade optimization within the framework of sustainable development through the search for hidden dependencies and regularities in the data. The study is limited by taking into account the specifics of the economic and legal regulation of international trade only within the EU countries. Further research should be devoted to the system of regulation of international trade around the world.