‘The Common Core of European Administrative Law’ project: Methodological Roots

One of the basic aims of the project ‘CoCEAL – The Common Core of European Administrative Law’ is that of testing whether, and to what extent, the comparative legal methodology successfully developed under another initiative, that is, ‘The Common Core of European Private Law’ project, can be applied to the field of administrative law. This is why this paper will start by briefly describing the overall architecture, and the methodology underlying ‘The Common Core of European Private Law’ project. After reviewing and dismissing a few critiques that have through time been moved to the ‘Common Core’ enterprise, the paper will end with a sketch of the promises and challenges that the adoption of the ‘Common Core’ methodology might entail for the comparative research on European administrative law.