THEORETICAL DELIMITATIONS: THE EUROPEANIZATION OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION AND ITS INSTITUTIONAL LEVERS

The specter of possible significances of the Europeanization process is impressive: it can be analyzed as a transnational process (diffusion of Western norms, styles and behaviors within the Western Europe); an institutional process of adaptation to the EU’s demands; a counterbalance to globalization or finally, as a specific strategy for managing the worldwide conflicts. From all these, the “Europeanization as institutional adaptation” approach has caught the attention of the doctrine of administrative studies. This article attempts to name the differences between the Europeanization by deepening and the Europeanization by enlargement and thus it suggests that the context of the interactions the European Community has with its candidate countries needs a special attention. We will thus focus on identifying (on conceptual level) the institutional levers the Union uses in influencing the administrative order of non-Member States that made the first steps in becoming a part of the European project. Romania – prior 2007 will constitute the subject of analysis for the instruments identified in the first part of the paper.