Traditions and Change in European Administrative Law

The traditional continental administrative model is mainly top-down and is based on the following assumptions:

• Political bodies strike the balance among conflicting interests present in the society or, rather, choose among the conflicting social interests those that deserve to gain the upper hand;
• The administrative organisation has the task to implement the choices made by the law-maker in specific cases and it is normally responsible to it; to this end it works through adjudication processes and adopts decisions; normally, to make adjudication (more predictable) and easier given its complex structure, the administrative organisation is also empowered to enact (secondary) rules; rules and administrative decisions derive their legal authority from the law they are implementing; they override individual interests;
• The courts are empowered to check that the administrative organisation does not overstep the boundaries laid down by the law.

A different, dialogue model is possible. It is based on the following assumptions:

• It is up to the different social actors to negotiate and find mutually acceptable compromises between conflicting interests; ;
• The administrative organisation acts as a facilitator or broker of decisions which are to a more or less large extent taken by the social actors;
• The courts check that all concerned social actors are allowed to take part to the dialogue and are fairly treated.

The research presented in this book is aimed at classifying the legal system according to the models outlined above