Dienstleistungen von allgemeinem Interesse zwischen Wettbewerb und Europäischen Verträgen

Abstract

Services of general interest are provided across Europe in different legal and institutional forms. They vary from private law to the commissioning of third parties through administrative cooperation. Even though these services and their forms of provision are subject to special regulations in European primary law, they are not always sufficiently included in legislative initiatives of the European Commission. The paper shows that this is contrary to the subsidiary spirit of the European Treaties, which protect this diversity as an important value under European law. Based on competition initiatives of the European Commission, the article analyzes the discrepancy between contractual claim and European political practice.