The European Union's Economic Diplomacy in The Eastern Neighbourhood

The face of diplomacy is changing: it has moved away from the conventional statecraft towards becoming more inclusive, welcoming new actors and introducing new instruments, structures and functions. It has also put the economic dimension at the heart of diplomacy today. The objective of this thesis is to assess the impact of the EU's economic diplomacy upon the new actors' performance, by exploring the impact of the Eastern Partnership's SME Flagship Initiative upon SMEs' business performance in the Republic of Moldova. This study aims to compare and contrast the theoretical model of diplomacy and its practice, identifying its advantages and challenges. An empirical study was used to test the hypotheses of this thesis, with interviews being conducted with European Commission and Moldovan officials, as well as NGO experts involved in the management and delivery of the East Invest programme. Results have shown that the EU economic diplomacy model has become more (1) complex and more inclusive, but it still lacks (2) agility (including transparency and accountability) and (3) connectivity, in terms engaging with third parties. This study enriches the research on EU economic diplomacy and the Eastern Partnership instruments for SMEs.