Acknowledgements

1To my mother and father, with eternal love and gratitude.

2I wish, first of all, to thank my thesis supervisor, Prof. Cédric Dupont of the Graduate Institute in Geneva (IHEID), for his precious support and helpful guidance during the past months of research. His expertise and insights have contributed greatly to my understanding of the subject and to this final work. I would also like to thank my colleagues and master candidates at the University of St. Gallen, especially Camilla Sante, for their helpful advice as well as precious feedback on the qualitative coding on which part of this work is grounded. An expression of gratitude goes to the staff of the European Commission, Directorate-General for Trade, and to the interviewed members of the CETA Domestic Advisory Group, for the empirical added-value offered by their interviews and insights to this analysis. A special expression of gratitude also goes to my family and loved ones, for their personal and human support in the course of these months of research.

3Geneva, July 2020