This study is concerned with the impact of European policies on national administrations. In selecting this research topic, one could in principle focus on both the formulation and implementation of European policies. One could argue that explaining domestic administrative change in the light of European policy requirements is not merely a matter of analysing the process of implementation but also, and primarily, a matter of analysing why and how certain policy choices have been made at the supranational level. Several studies on the dynamics of the supranational policy-making process seem to underline this necessity. Both research carried out in the field of health and safety at work and environmental policy indicates that supranational policy-making in these areas is characterised by a process of ‘regulatory competition’ between member states (Héritier et al. 1994; Héritier, Knill and Mingers 1996; Eichener 1996). Individual states strive to avoid potential costs of administrative adjustment emerging from European policies that diverge from domestic provisions. The competition between the existing national administrative systems, which is inherent in regulatory competition, may therefore be taken as the basic starting point for studying the impact of European policies on national administrations.

Although many analytical insights can be gained by examining administrative changes in the context of the whole European policy cycle, this study takes another path. Its main focus is on the process of European policy implementation at the national level and the administrative changes following from this.