ABSTRACT
The impact of European integration on the executives of current EU member states has been studied from three perspectives: linkage, implementation and executive ecology. A review of research and writing about executive Europeanisation in both western and eastern Europe raises doubts about the explanatory status of ‘European integration’ as a major variable driving domestic institutional change. If knowledge in the field is to advance, the analytical scope of Europeanisation research needs to be extended. First, more attention must be paid to the modes and processes of Europeanisation (as opposed to the substance of institutional adaptation). Second, it is necessary to examine more systematically the manner in which European integration interacts with other (potential) sources of institutional development.
