This thesis sought to explore factors resulting in EU foreign policy reform through Kingdon’s Multiple Streams Framework. Using the literature on EU foreign policy change and the EU’s sanctions...Show moreThis thesis sought to explore factors resulting in EU foreign policy reform through Kingdon’s Multiple Streams Framework. Using the literature on EU foreign policy change and the EU’s sanctions policy as a fundamental basis, the expectations were that framing in a particular way would result in EU foreign policy reform, that policy entrepreneurs contributed to EU foreign policy reform, and that think tanks and swings of European mood contributed to EU foreign policy reform. Within this thesis, the imposition of sanctions against Russia represents the policy reform and window of opportunity through which policy reform can be realized. The cases of the annexations of Crimea and four Ukrainian regions were selected. To identify the factors at play, European news outlets, EU policy documents and meeting results, think tank reports and opinion polls have been consulted. The results revealed that policy entrepreneurs within the policy stream were responsible for the imposition of sanctions, despite continuous expression of dissatisfaction and use of the window of opportunity by think tanks. The discoveries within this thesis offer insights into the significant influence of factors found in the Multiple Streams Framework, contributing to existing literature on policymaking and opening avenues for further research.Show less
This thesis looks at the effects politicization has on the voting behaviour of the Council of the European Union since the migration crisis of 2015. Three different levels of the chain of...Show moreThis thesis looks at the effects politicization has on the voting behaviour of the Council of the European Union since the migration crisis of 2015. Three different levels of the chain of delegation are investigated: the popular level, the domestic political-party level and the Council level. The analysis is based on different datasets from 2010 until 2019. In the analysis, it becomes clear that it is unable to conclude from the data whether Euroscepticism has increased among EU citizens. Furthermore, within political parties, dissent has, in general, not increased and the position on European integration has not become more Eurosceptic. This thesis confirms that within the Council’s voting behaviour, dissent has increased. Nonetheless, according to their voting behaviour, consensus within the Council remains the norm. The future might be fragile and might show more Eurosceptic parties entering the Council and projecting their dissent towards European integration.Show less
This thesis looks at the relation between the number of embassies a country has abroad and the inflow of Foreign Direct Investment within the respective country. The analysis is based on a Fixed...Show moreThis thesis looks at the relation between the number of embassies a country has abroad and the inflow of Foreign Direct Investment within the respective country. The analysis is based on a Fixed Effects model with panel data from 169 countries collected from 2000 until 2020. There was no public dataset available for the number of embassies. As such, the data for this variable was manually calculated for every single country for every single year. In the analysis it becomes clear that the number of embassies is relevant and significant to determine the FDI inflow. However, the population and the proportion of internet users in a country prove to be more significant and contribute more to the model than the number of embassies. This thesis confirms results from previous research, namely that a broader diplomatic network has a positive effect on trade relations. Its rationale can be found in the new statistical aspects, since it uses a Fixed Effects model, rather than a gravitational model. Moreover, this incorporates both longitudinal and cross-sectional data, whereas previous research solely deployed longitudinal data of one country or cross-sectional data of one year.Show less
This thesis deals with the concept of cybercrime prevention protocols against ransomware attacks within Dutch municipalities. It starts with a description of the development of cybercrime attacks,...Show moreThis thesis deals with the concept of cybercrime prevention protocols against ransomware attacks within Dutch municipalities. It starts with a description of the development of cybercrime attacks, and ransomware in particular, aimed at Dutch municipalities. Then it follows up with the routine activity theory and current ransomware prevention methods and measurements. The practical part analyses input from employers of municipalities and IT-experts. They provide access to questions asked for the purpose of this investigation. The response is based on experience and successful attacks by hackers on municipalities. After the input has been analysed, a set of recommendations will also be made. These recommendations will be used to improve cybercrime prevention. Conclusively, the consequences of cybercrime prevention protocols on ransomware attacks will also be discussed both in terms of image and financial effect of such protocols.Show less
Climate change has become the main challenge of the 21st century in particular due to pollutant emissions. Among other factors, the increase of pollutants emissions is related to the soaring number...Show moreClimate change has become the main challenge of the 21st century in particular due to pollutant emissions. Among other factors, the increase of pollutants emissions is related to the soaring number of vehicles powered through fossil fuel combustion. Mainly concentrated in cities, impoverished air quality has been associated with major health issues. In this context, electric mobility has been identified among other measures as an appropriate initiative to adopt in order to reduce pollutant emissions. However, cities are the ones representing both the production sites of air pollution and the places where it is crucial to take action in order to fight poor air quality. Since cities vary in size and characteristics, it remains difficult to find the most adequate solution to comply with European supranational directives set out by the European Commission. Joining transnational municipal networks is supposed to help cities exchange information and practices with other cities experiencing similar challenges to identify the most suitable measures to implement locally. Most of the literature agrees on the promising benefits of joining such networks, however little is known about effective policy implementation. In addition, most of the research focused on large networks and big cities of Northern and Central Europe; whereas Southern European small and medium-sized cities have been neglected so far. This research aims at investigating electric mobility policy implementation in four cities located in Southern Europe that represent both small and medium sized cities, namely Alicante (Spain), Bilbao (Spain), Perugia (Italy) and Reggio Emilia (Italy). The study focuses on the difference of policy implementation regarding the participation of the city in the POLIS network or not. The POLIS network is a European specialized city-network in the field of innovative mobility. Bilbao and Perugia are POLIS’ members, whereas Alicante and Reggio Emilia are not. At first, the study suggests that the participation in the city network POLIS does not make the difference in electric mobility implementation. Indeed all four cities have at least one measure in place regardless of their participation or non-participation in the network. However, major differences have been observed, in particular among the cities that do not participate in the network. While Alicante did not extensively implement electric mobility, Reggio Emilia was very dynamic on the matter. On the other hand, member cities have common electric mobility policies in place. However, alternative factors may explain the homogeneity in electric mobility implementation in European small and medium sized city. Further studies should investigate the role of smaller city networks that might be more suitable to guide sustainable policy implementation in small and medium-sized cities.Show less
