Luxembourg and Europe: The Europeanization of National Officials

This study provides a systematic account of European adaptation (Europeanization) of the
national core executive in Luxembourg. So far the existing literature on European adaptation
processes regarding national officials and their administrative structures does not address the
case of Luxembourg nor does it link the analysis of European adaptation of actors and
institutions in one research design. The analytical framework used in order to unveil
Europeanization processes in the case of Luxembourg encompasses a mixed-method approach
using quantitative but mostly qualitative techniques. The discovery of the way Luxembourg
manages the coordination of its EU policy and the extent to which the core executive has been
affected by the European socialization process provides evidence of successful European
adaptation of the Luxembourgish core executive to the EU. Displaying a coordination system
of EU policy that is structured by informal procedures, the flexibility and pro-integrationist
outlook of national civil servants is mainly responsible for Luxembourg’s efficient
management of EU affairs. Despite being one of the smallest member states in the EU,
Luxembourg has created a coordination system for EU policy that ensures successful
management of its work in the European arena. While uncovering institutional and individual
adaptation processes in Luxembourg, this thesis is the first systematic account that integrates
socialization and coordination issues together into the Europeanization research agenda.