By analyzing the main body of regulations on public service and on the status of civil servants from different member states of the EU, we can identify several similarities, as well as significant differences. Comparisons among the different ways the states choose to regulate civil service makes us raise the question if there is an ideal model for such regulation of the civil service,model that could be applied in as many European administrative systems as possible, especially those systems that are reforming their civil service. In this article, I try to identify several relevant similarities and differences that characterize the administrative systems of some European states. Other provisions regarding the public service are analyzed, especially those regulations that refer to the civil servants career (structure, access conditions, selection and promotion), their rights and obligations, classifications inside the public service and civil servants’ accountability.