More Bad News Europe Doesn't Need

France had the largest trade gap ever in 2011, with imports exceeding exports by €69.6 billion ($91 billion) for the year, higher than the €51.5 billion ($67.6 billion) shortfall of 2010.

Last year marks the tenth straight year for a shortfall in imports for the European economy, as exports fell 0.3 percent.

The gap contrasts with the country's eastern neighbor, which has become an exporting powerhouse since the adoption of the euro. German exports rose 126 percent from 2000 to 2010. Italy has also seen exports gain by 72 percent, while France saw only a 50 percent increase in outgoing trade.

Trade Minister Pierre Lellouche said in a press conference that the shortage was due to competition with other European economies. "The market share we've lost over the past 10 years has been lost to Europeans. The problem is at home, it's not abroad. It's up to us to do reforms."

The juxtaposition of foreign and domestic trade within the eurozone again puts light on the euro and whether it remains a sustainable economic and political policy to maintain a unified currency amongst a federation of separate sovereign states who compete with one another when it comes to trade. While France struggles with a decade of lackluster trade, Germany is enjoying a surplus, which Lellouche says is the result of "work" it began 12 years ago, which he says France hasn't considered since the 1960's.

France's largest trade deficit was with China, at 27 billion euros, a situation that Lellouche calls "not sustainable." He also says that his meetings with Chinese officials involve an "animated discussion" because "we have problems there."

The EU is China's largest trading partner, prompting the federation to cozy up to its Asian trading partner to hint at a bailout. No money was forthcoming, leaving Europe to handle its sovereign debt crisis on its own.

The news has contributed to an onslaught of pessimism from Europe, as UBS (NYSE: UBS) reports a 76 percent fall in profits thanks to lower trading volumes and cautioned of similar results in the future. A mass migration from troubled PIIGS economies is the result of skyhigh unemployment. European stocks keep losing previous gains no matter whether Greek debt talks result in a breakthrough or not.

The situation in Europe seems to keep getting worse, but one market seems to be improving: German bonds are gaining on news of Greek rescue funds, largely because that rescue money will find its way back to German banks. The German 10-year bond fell to 1.87 percent, a fraction of Greece's 10-year yield of 34.54 percent. The German DAX (XETRA: ^DAX) is down nearly a percent, with the London FTSE (LON: ^FTSE) down slightly.