The European Composite Administration

The collection of studies in this book is the result of a continuous cooperation between legal scholars of Utrecht University and the Institute for German and European Administrative Law at Heidelberg University. In part, it was supported by the German and Dutch Research Foundations (the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) and the Nederlandse Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek (NWO)). The volume focuses on the concept of European Composite Administration (Europäischer Verwaltungsverbund). As Eberhard Schmidt-Aßmann explains in his contribution Verbund expresses a systematic notion which creates the necessary entity through interlinking with each other the two organisational principles – the principle of cooperation and the principle of hierarchy. This concept of Verbund also implies the notions of sovereignty, respect and the ability to undertake joint administrative action in the European Union. This German concept “Europäischer Verwaltungsverbund” is translated as European Composite Administration.

After a general introduction to the concept of European Composite Administration by Schmidt-Aßmann, the contributions are distributed in three parts of the book. In the first part ten fields of European Administrative Law are analysed: Structural Funds (Schöndorf-Haubold), European Environmental Law (Sommer) and the Law on Plant Protection Products (Keessen), Financial Services and more specifically the Law on Insider Dealing (Luchtman), European Veterinary and Food Law (Knipschild), European Aviation and Agency Law (Riedel), the Law on Police and Customs Cooperation (Harings), European Product Safety Law (Röhl), Transnational Water Management (Hey and Van Rijswick), and Public Access to Documents (Duijkersloot).

The second part covers contributions that focus on acts and procedures in the European Composite Administration. Ruffert presents an in-depth analysis of the Transnational Administrative Act, whereas Wettner focuses on the general law of procedure of Mutual Administrative Assistance in the European Union. Vogt presents an analysis of the Administrative Decision as a means of normative law making, and David gives us the results of her study of the role of Inspections as an instrument of implementation. Schenk finishes this part of the book with his analysis of EC Grant Management. The third and last part of this book ends with some contributions on administrative structures and legal protection. Röhl analyses the Voidable Decision as a Form of Legal Protection, Hofmann examines the system of Legal Protection and Liability in EU law. Van Hoek and Luchtman present the results of their study of the role of Human Rights in the Transnational Cooperation in Criminal Matters, and Vervaele concludes the volume with his contribution on the transnational Ne bis in idem Principle.