Public Services And Eu Competition Law The Social Market Economy In Action

Investigating the extent to which the European Union can be defined as a "highly competitive social market economy", this edited collection illustrates and tests the constitutional reverberations of Art. 3(3) of the Treaty on the European Union, and discusses its actual and potential transformative effect. In the aftermath of Brexit, and in the 60th anniversary of the Treaty of Rome, the book is particularly timely and topical, offering new and deeper insights on the complex and constantly evolving social dimension of the EU, ultimately reflecting on how the objective of (re)constituting the EU as a "highly competitive social market economy" might best be achieved.

This monograph, which was also designed as a short reference book for specialized undergraduate and graduate courses on EU law, intends to shed light on, and legally frame, the evolution of the doctrine of services of general economic interest (SGEIs). The book emphasizes the pivotal role played by SGEIs in striking a fair balance between market and social objectives. To this end, the book claims, first of all, that SGEIs have a dual nature inasmuch as they act as a limitation to/derogation from the free market and, simultaneously, as a value and positive obligation addressed at national authorities, undertakings, and EU institutions. The EU notions of access to public services and universal service are the clearest signal of such phenomenon. Secondly, the book claims that the transfer of competences from the Union to the Member States and the reaffirmation of Member States’ sovereignty in crucial sectors of the economy are not the only solutions to foster social rights. In fact, this narrative is apt to undermine the foundations, spirit, and purpose of the process of European integration, especially at a time like the present, when new forms of populism and anti-Europeanism are on the rise, and when a European response is imperative to counter the spread of the coronavirus in European countries. The book concludes that SGEIs’ regulation is an area of law where the EU institutions have generally successfully put into action and consolidated the social market economy principles on which the EU was founded. This is even further proof that the EU is not merely the reflection of interests linked to market completion, but also and foremost a ‘Community based on the rule of law’. The book will be a valuable resource for academics and researchers in EU Law, European Public Law and EU competition law.

Comprehensive analysis showing that utilities and welfare services are important building blocks for the EU social market economy.

Offering an analysis of the most pressing issues relating to the interaction between market integration and the provision of public services in the EU, this book addresses the underlying systemic issues, confronting core tensions at the heart of the EU's social and economic policy.

The EU has limited legislative competence in the field of social law. However, the Member States are increasingly modernizing social services and social (welfare) protection, attempting to make social services more efficient by increasingly looking to the market for the provision of such services. This policy move brings social services into the radar of EU law. The EU response to this sensitive issue has resulted in a piecemeal and fragmented approach towards the treatment of a new policy area of Social Services of General Interest (SSGI) in EU law and policy. This book is a first contribution towards charting how SSGI have emerged as a special category of SGI in the EU, the reaction of the Member States and stake-holders and how policy is being made through new governance processes, carve-outs and safe havens in legislation and soft law, especially in the light of the new values of the EU introduced by the Treaty of Lisbon 2009. It takes an inter-disciplinary approach and will be of interest to lawyers, economists and political scientists who are interested in EU policy-making as well as practioners, EU and national policy-makers. Ulla Neergaard is Professor of EU law at the Faculty of Law, University of Copenhagen, Denmark. Erika Szyszczak is a Jean Monnet Professor of European Law ad personam, Professor of European Competition and Labour Law at the University of Leicester, Barrister, Littleton Chambers, UK. Johan W. van de Gronden is Professor of European Law at the Radboud University of Nijmegen, The Netherlands. Markus Krajewski is Professor of Public and International law at the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg.

The maintenance of a fair, competitive market among member states is critical to the functioning of the EU economy. In this book, the first comprehensive, unifying view of market definition, Miguel Ferro adeptly explores the different economic-legal issues that arise in EU competition law.

This book examines the role of law in Europe at a time when economic policies have become dominant not only on this continent but globally. Can law be seen as a mere infrastructure? Or does it contribute to defining the social and legal order through its own inherent rules? If the second hypothesis is true, what might these rules be, and how may they be identified? Lastly, to what extent can agreeing a definition of the role of law affect the future of Europe? With the Next Generation European Union, the EU has introduced an unprecedented investment plan for economic recovery and resilience. In doing so, it has become the most important financial intermediary on the continent. But is this simply the prelude to a European economic and financial revival, or does it also aim to strengthen the European legal order in social, political, and constitutional terms? This book argues that the role of law in Europe should be to achieve a balanced relationship between freedom and solidarity; encouraging economic competition, but also social cohesion. Analyzing the role of law in the project of European integration, it maintains that law should be more than an infrastructure for finance and economics, showing how it can act as a guide and a binding force to achieve a more balanced relationship between economics, politics, and law. This book will be of interest to scholars in the fields of public law, European law, law and economics, the philosophy of law, legal history, political theory, and political science, as well as others concerned with the future of European integration.