The two main models of contemporary European continental public administration were developed in Prussia during the eighteenth century and in France at the tum of the nineteenth century, mainly during the time of Napoleon.’ Whereas the Prussian model had an early influence on the Austrian administration, the attraction of the Napoleonic model has also been important for both countries, as well as for the Netherlands -and thus consequently for Belgium and Luxembourg - Italy and Spain. Only Sweden and Switzerland have kept an administrative system with structures very different from the rest of Western Europe, but with a strong role of law, as on the rest of the Continent.“ As far as the role of law is concerned, the Prussian tradition of the Recirsstaat and the French tradition of the principle de legalite both explain the importance of law for public administration.