The book analyses the administrative system in the European Union with a focus on the efficiency and legitimacy of the administrative practices. The administrative system of the European Union is described as a hybrid between a traditional national and an international administration. In the analysis three distinct theoretical perspectives are used (a structural, a procedural and a cultural), thus ensuring that a broad variety of factors are included. Furthermore, in the analysis the administration is seen from the perspective of an individual Eurocrat, but, simultaneously, the overall institutional perspective is maintained by a focus on the effects of the special characteristics of the administrative practices on the efficiency and legitimacy of the administration.