Europeanization and local administration resistance

The case of executive agencies implementing CAP and the rural development policy in new EU countries

Abstract

This paper is aimed at analyzing the process of Europeanization of executive agencies implementing Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) and the rural area development policy in new EU members: Lithuania, Slovakia and Poland. In other words, the paper analyzes changes in institutions occurred as a result of the execution of EU policies and implementation of EU laws. I also wanted to find out if Europeanization processes introduced new modes of governance into the administrative practice, related to non-hierarchical modes of governance, social participation and activity in European agency networks. Consequently, one of the main questions asked in the study was how Europeanization of executive agencies related to domestic factors that shaped the functioning of public administration. What role was played in these relations by the local political and administrative culture, including the tradition rooted in the socialist period? How was the impact of Europeanization modified by that tradition?