EU integration, europeanization and administrative convergence: The Greek case

Abstract

Analyses of how national administrative systems and styles respond to EU integration and Europeanization processes have so far focused mainly on formal/ institutional aspects. It is expected that common rules and regulations within the European Union (EU) should lead to administrative convergence. However, culture and civil service structure and function of national administrative systems and styles vary. Responsiveness is not only a matter of formal and institutional reform. It is conditioned by a variety of informal and extrainstitutional processes relative to state-society and politics-administration relationship and interaction. Research on the implementation of EU air-transport public policy in Greece shows a gap between the formal rules and informal practices, which inhibits convergence.