Public Administration Reform in Post-Communist Countries as a Requirement for EU Membership: Towards the European Administrative Space
Public Administration Reform in Post-Communist Countries as a Requirement for EU Membership: Towards the European Administrative Space

Summary/Abstract: After the end of the Cold war, former communist countries expressed their intention to become EU members. The EU started to prepare for the future enlargement and introduced new, more complex accession criteria- the 1993 Copenhagen criteria that were later supported by the Madrid criteria, according to which harmonious integration of Central and Eastern European countries into the EU would require adjustment of their administrative structures. The enlargement criteria recognize the need for countries to build a strong national public administration with the capacity to transpose and implement the acquis communautaire effectively. The forthcoming EU enlargement with Central and Eastern European countries implied administrative reforms that were not required by the countries that have joined the EU at the earlier stages. The aim of the paper is to analyze the impact of the public administration reform on the success of the EU accession process in the case with the Central and Eastern European countries. The European Union has not introduced specific model for the organization and functioning of public administrations. However, because of the great importance of the institutions of public administration in implementing of the EU acquis, they need to adhere to the general principles of good governance and meet certain administrative standards defined within the EU. The paper furthermore explores the European administrative space that represents an evolving process of increasing convergence between national administrative legal orders and administrative practices of member states.

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