Inside regulatory bureaucracy: When Europe hits home in pharmaceuticals and chemicals

Research on the impact of European integration focuses on the external relations of national agencies. This has neglected the impact that Europeanization has on the internal operations of agencies and the way in which coordination is practiced. This article researches the impact of European integration on national agencies with regard to three dimensions: their recruitment schemes, their internal organization, and their external coordination arrangements. The paper presents a 20-year historical review of highly Europeanised agencies -the German pharmaceutical and chemical regulators. This allows us to explore whether different roles in the policy process mediate the effects of Europeanisation. As a result, the article shows that Europeanisation has impacted comprehensively on the recruitment schemes, organizational structure, and coordination arrangements of the two agencies. Both agencies have gained highly qualified personnel for their tasks related to European decision-making and have reorganized their structure to adapt to the requirements of this decision-making.