Is Administrative Cooperation Between EU Member States the “Dark Matter” of the European Administrative Space? A Legal Perspective on the Implementation of EU Free Circulation Policies

This chapter aims to draw attention to a key but under-studied dimension of the European Administrative Space (EAS): the implementation of the EU policies through administrative cooperation between Member States. It argues that administrative cooperation is not only a dimension of the EAS among others but the dimension that shapes most of the features of the EAS. Its argument is based on a review of legal provisions dedicated to administrative cooperation. The results of this review show that these provisions are at the origin of numerous, dense, and mostly dematerialised “cooperation mechanisms” organised alongside several finalities, forms, and frames.