The Changing Legal Framework for Services of General Interest in Europe: Between Competition and Solidarity

ISBN-13: 9789067043083 / Angielski / Twarda / 2009 / 522 str.

Markus Krajewski

Opis

INTRODUCTION Markus Krajewski, Ulla Neergaard, Johan van de Gronden I. The changing framework of public services in Europe In recent years, the body of European law affecting public services services of general economic interest as they are called in the EC Treaty has been subject to a significant transformation. Until the mid-1990s, services provided by public - thorities on the basis of monopolies or other forms of restrictions of market access were regarded as derogations from the disciplines of the internal market and c- petition law. The underlying assumption was that the open and competitive market order established by the EC Treaty was also an appropriate framework for the p- vision of services of general economic interest. The early liberalisation of telec- munication and postal services were also driven by the assumption that more competition will lead to better and cheaper services for the consumers. However, soon the European institutions, in particular the European Commission noticed that high quality public services were not only important to consumers, but that these services also formed a significant element of the European social model which could at times be in conflict with the strict application of the logics of free markets and unrestricted competition. Hence, greater emphasis was placed on the specific requirements of services of general economic interest as core values of the Member States and the Community."

Spis treści

Concepts and Principles.- Services of General Economic Interest: The Nature of the Beast.- What Does Article 86 Actually Do?.- Taking Stock: The EU Institutions and Services of General Economic Interest.- The Value of Solidarity in European Public Services Law.- Financing and Organising Services of General Interest.- The Altmark Case and Its Consequences.- State Aid Control Over Public Services: A View from the Court.- Problems of Cross-Subsidisation.- The Conceptual Links between State Aid and Public Procurement in the Financing of Services of General Economic Interest.- The Never Ending Story if ‘In-House’ Procurement.- Regulating Services of General Interest.- Modernising Healthcare: Pilgrimage for the Holy Grail?.- The User-Provider Relationship: Informed Choice and User Protection Through Private Law.- The Services Directive and Services of General (Economic) Interest.- Towards A General EC Framework Instrument Related to SGEI? Political Considerations and Legal Constraints.- Experiences in the Member States.- France.- Italy.- Spain.- Germany.- United Kingdom.- Netherlands.- Sweden.- Poland.- Bulgaria.- Conclusion.- Conclusion.