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Post-briefing item
MEPs want legal certainty on public services
Economic and monetary affairs - 05-10-2006 - 09:36
Parliament is calling for action from the Commission to clarify the interaction between EU internal market and competition rules and the provision of public services. On Wednesday, MEPs adopted a report by 491 votes in favour to 128 against and 31 abstentions asking for guidelines, principles and legal initiatives in the field of services of general interest.
The report, drawn up by Bernhard RAPKAY (PES, DE), represents a consensus reached between the largest political groups in response to a White Paper from the Commission. Since individual rulings of the Court of Justice and existing guidelines from the Commission have left doubt for those involved in providing public services on the extent to which EU competition and internal market law applies to different sectors, MEPs want the Commission to clear this up. They also want a clearer distinction to be made between the concepts of ‘services of general interest’ and ‘services of general economic interest’, though they point out that too tight a definition at EU level would conflict with Member States freedom to decide what to define as a public service.
The report opposes the idea of using this exercise to withdraw wholesale broad areas of services of general interest from competition and internal market rules. It emphasises the success of sector-specific EU regulations enacted so far, and recommends this be expanded, calling notably for a directive on social and health care services.
MEPs emphasise that it should be for the competent public authority to decide whether to supply services ‘in house’ or contract them out, via a tendering process. They note that local authorities, under certain conditions, should be able to provide services via joint inter-communal organisations without going through a tendering process.
More legal clarification is needed, says the report, when it comes to procedures for accessing existing networks needed for provision of services, defining the price for supply of services, securing competition and opportunities for new entrepreneurs, out-of-court settlements between service providers and users and referral to competition authorities.
Parliament therefore invites the Commission to propose appropriate legal initiatives to deal with all these issues.
During Tuesday's debate on the subject, Commission President José Manuel BARROSO said the Commission would publish a Communication outlining its plans in this area before the end of the year.
