Comparative studies on the administrative convergence revealed by national strategies of administrative reform in some South-Eastern European states

Abstract

The paper has as main topic the administrative convergence and its reflection in the national strategies of administrative reform in some states in South Eastern Europe. Having a complex content, sometimes even ambigous, the administrative convergence will have as finality the integration in the European Administrative Space and the administrative reforms as support. From this prospect, the South-Eastern Europe has a certain specificity emphasised by: different positions of the states under discussion related to the dynamics of the European integration process; development and evolution of the national public administrationsin in direct connection both with Central European states and with the Eastern European ones, dominated by the Slav administrative culture, as well as the South European countries under the Balkan and Middle East influences; geo-strategic position of most states, including Romania, position that provides them a role of catalyser in the process of construction of the European Administrative Space. The paper is structured in three parts referring to the theoretical aspects concerning the administrative convergence, relevant case studies regarding Greece, Slovakia, Bulgaria and Romania, as well as conclusions based both on the theoretical elements and on the social perception of the domestic processes within the European Administrative Space. In the current version, the paper represents a research report drawn up within the framework of the Jean Monnet project "South-Eastern European developments on the administrative convergence and enlargement of the European Administrative Space in Balkan states".