Does Performance Matter in Migration Governance? The Case of the 2016 EU-Turkey Statement

This article investigates the role of performance – more specifically performance measurement and performance management – in migration governance. Using the case-study of the 2016 EU-Turkey statement, this article investigates what dimensions of performance and what performance indicators different actors involved in its implementation use. Furthermore, this article seeks to understand the extent to which political leaders in charge of the deal use these measures of performance. Using content and discourse analysis, the article finds that performance matters only marginally: performance is measured only partially, and these measures are used instrumentally by political leaders. The analysis goes further and suggests that four factors have had an impact on the partial and marginal role played by performance: the fact that the statement is implemented by a complex network, that it occurred in a situation of crisis, that it was done in a politicized context, and that the stakeholders held contradictory goals.