Authors

Claudia Badulescu¹;  ¹ European University Institute, Italy

Discussion

Following the collapse of communism in Europe, the European Commission started supporting domestic administrative reforms in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) and the Western Balkans in a bid to assist the transition to democratic governance and to promote the development of market economies in the region. Through this paper, I assess the leverage of the European Commission in driving the Europeanization of public administrations both within and outside of the EU. By undertaking in-depth analyses of the Commission’s reform programmes that have been implemented over a period of 20 years in three post-communist countries (i.e. Romania, Serbia and Moldova), this research project provides insights into the driving forces and barriers that shape the Commission’s ability to ‘Europeanize’ public administrations from the EU member states, candidate states or neighbourhood states. Building on extensive desk research, quantitative text analysis and elite interviews undertaken in Romania, Serbia, Moldova, the European Commission and the OECD, this thesis traces the genesis and gradual institutionalisation of the European Commission’s instruments for supporting administrative reform, and evaluates their implementation over a 20-year period in each case-study country.  This paper ultimately provides a snapshot of how the EU can wield power today and achieve institutional change in subtle, but far-reaching ways, and of the very real impact that the bloc can have on the lives of millions of EU and non-EU citizens.