Changes in the European Administrative Space: Towards Sustainable Coordination?

Decisions taken by the European Union shape key administrative areas for a high quality of living together. They organise matters as crucial as GMOs, the protection of endangered species (Habitat Directive), the spatial planning of transeuropean networks of transport etc. These decisions often involve Member States in their elaboration and their implementation. In this regard, the European administrative space is not a single bureaucratic machinery but a composite of European and domestic administrations. A key question is the room of manoeuvre that Member States enjoy in this overall process.

Different theories, such as executive federalism, have been suggested for the coordination of the European and domestic administrations within the European administrative space. But the coordination process remains fraught with uncertainties. For instance, changing circumstances may require to amend decisions relating to conservation areas, spacial planning or GMOs licencing. The process to be followed is very often barely sketched.

The accumulation of administrative decisions requires to suggest avenues to ensure the long term sustainability of a high quality living level throughout Europe. A deep transformation of the legal thinking around this issue is thus timely. This paper will explore how domestic systems have in the past looked for answer to these questions when their administative systems were in a formative stage. Lessons can be learned to map the future of Europe in these matters and to articulate the need for European integration with the need to respect the room of manoeuvre of Member States when implementing EU law.