The German implementation record of the five policies under study reveals that administrative transformation in the context of European policy demands can only be expected if two conditions are fulfilled. First, the adaptational pressures emerging from European policies must remain at a moderate level; European policies require substantive sectoral changes which, however, can still be achieved within the general core of national administrative traditions. In Germany, this condition was only fulfilled in two cases (EMAS and Drinking Water). The Directives on Access to Information and EIA required far-reaching adaptations in existing practices and structures which were in contradiction with German administrative traditions, while the LCP Directive fully confirmed domestic arrangements, hence implying no demand for change. Second, the actual occurrence of moderate transformations requires the support of domestic actor coalitions which, in view of their institutional opportunities and constraints, are able to successfully challenge existing arrangements. As we shall see, the specific actor constellation at the domestic level resulted in differing patterns of delayed adaptation in the case of Drinking Water and accepted adaptation in the case of EMAS.

The explanation of the German implementation story illustrates our theoretical considerations in two ways.