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The topic of this thesis is the general principle of good administration in Community law, its content and effect in its application in the sphere of Community law, both at the Community and national levels. The main purpose is to examine whether the principle should upheld in the same manner on both levels of Community law, in other words, whether national public authorities and courts are obliged to uphold the principle in the same way as at the Community level. Three aspects of the principle are studied more closely here: the principle of due diligence, the right to be heard and the duty to give reasoned decisions.

The study includes a general analysis of the effect of Community law in Member States, with a special focus on two questions: the division between substantive and procedural law, and the effects of general principles of Community law in Member States. The study further includes a specific analysis of the content and effect of the principle of good administration in Community law. Particularly, whether the Community principle can be seen as an individual procedural right Community law grants persons claiming Community rights is examined.

Though Community law to a growing extent does affect the application of national administrative procedural law, the conclusion here is that the European Court of Justice has not interpreted the principle of good administration in such a way that national public authorities and courts must apply the principle uniformly. Community law instead gives the national authorities and courts certain leeway to interpret the Community principle of good administration in the context of the national administrative law. As the Community recently has adopted several legislative acts including administrative procedural rules, the Europeanisation of national administrative law can be foreseen to continue in the future.