The Common Core of European Administrative Laws and the Pan-European General Principles of Good Administration

This chapter examines a research project carried out at the German Research Institute of Public Administration and the German University of Administrative Sciences Speyer. This 'Speyer project' studies the development, content, and effectiveness of the written and unwritten standards of good administration drawn up within the framework of the Council of Europe (CoE), i.e. on the basis of its Statute (SCoE) and the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), which is a sort of 'second pillar' of the CoE. These CoE standards are called 'pan-European principles of good administration'. This 'Speyer project' can be understood as a counterpart to the project carried out by Giacinto della Cananea and Mauro Bussani on the Common Core of European Administrative Law (CoCEAL) as it has a similar objective: to ascertain whether, despite many differences between European systems of administrative law, there are some connecting elements, or a 'common core', and, if so, whether such 'connecting elements' can be formulated in legal terms rather than as generic idealities. However, the methodological approach of the 'Speyer project' clearly differs from the 'factual approach' adopted in CoCEAL.