The study of the successful negotiation of Global Public Goods (GPGs) can enlighten scholars across political economy, political science, public administration as well as international relations....Show moreThe study of the successful negotiation of Global Public Goods (GPGs) can enlighten scholars across political economy, political science, public administration as well as international relations. The 20 yearlong Mercosur-EU trade negotiations which culminated in an agreement between the South American and European trade blocs in 2019 provides an example of a successful GPG negotiation against the unique backdrop of an agreement between two transnational organisations. Whilst there is no set view on what the factor that makes GPG negotiations successful, a focus on the fairness and justice consideration is increasingly recognised. The thesis takes this fairness and justice consideration as its guiding framework in assessing the success of the Mercosur-EU GPG negotiations. Given the two stages of the negotiation, the first from 2000-2004 which ended unsuccessfully, and the second 2010-2019 which ended successfully, this thesis compares both stages through a process tracing exploring whether fairness and justice play a larger role in the second stage and evaluating its contribution to the successful signing of the agreement. Developing its own framework based around four key concepts: Fair Treatment, Fair Play, Extending the Notion of Reciprocity and Going Beyond Narrow Self-Interest, the two stages are compared and evaluated. Whilst the main focus centres on fairness and justice, other confounding factors such as the leadership shown from certain states in driving forward the negotiations is also acknowledged.Show less
This thesis aims to assess the impact of big data on burden-sharing in the European Union in the field of migration governance. Migration governance in the European Union is widely perceived as a...Show moreThis thesis aims to assess the impact of big data on burden-sharing in the European Union in the field of migration governance. Migration governance in the European Union is widely perceived as a collective action problem, as no effective burden-sharing has been established since the migration crisis of 2015. The current field of force is interpreted as a suasion game, where the strategy of non-affected states forces affected states to cooperate in burden-sharing, resulting in a de jure status quo. Having conducted interviews with European decision-makers as well as migration and big data experts, this thesis finds that big data can provide decision-makers with situational awareness, resulting in better organisational preparedness as well as enhanced matching and integration policies. However, political will is found to be an essential trigger for changing the suasion game, as big data on itself invokes no incentives for this political will. Consequently, decision-makers use big data so that it fits their strategy. When issue-linkage is established the suasion game can be changed. Big data however is then used instrumentally, potentially allowing for more voluntary reception of migrants. Nevertheless, the overall impact of big data is limited on the suasion game and Member States will not change their strategies. This thesis contributes to the recent academic debate on the use of big data in migration governance as well as to the academic debate on evidence-based decision-making.Show less
