Trade Facilitation as a Tool of Economic Diplomacy- Lessons from EU Engagement with SPECA Countries and Developing Economies

Genoveva-Elena Perju

MPRA Paper from University Library of Munich, Germany

Abstract: This paper analyses how the European Union (EU) has systematically used trade-facilitation assistance, rule-making, and market-access diplomacy to advance its economic and geopolitical interests vis-à-vis the United Nations Special Programme for the Economies of Central Asia (SPECA) and a broader set of developing economies. Drawing on primary documents (EU-SPECA progress reports 2018-2024, GSP+ monitoring reports), 87 semi-structured interviews with customs officials, private-sector representatives, and EU Delegation staff, and a new panel dataset covering 38 developing countries (2000-2023), we show that trade-facilitation measures have delivered measurable reductions in trade costs, but that their diplomatic value is mediated by four factors: (i) institutional absorptive capacity; (ii) the credibility of EU conditionality; (iii) competing offers from China and the Gulf states; and (iv) domestic political-economy coalitions. The paper concludes with a typology of “facilitation diplomacy” and a set of policy recommendations for the EU’s 2025-2030 external action agenda.

Keywords: Trade facilitation; economic diplomacy; SPECA; EU external action; Aid for Trade; GSP+; Central Asia (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: F13 F14 F15 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025-07-16
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