No Privatisation in the Service of Fair Competition? Article 345 TFEU and the EU Market-State balance after Essent

Publishers Abstract:
Building upon EU law obligations to open national electricity markets for competition, the Netherlands specifically prohibited private companies from maintaining or acquiring ownership entitlements in electricity distribution networks. In Essent, the Court of Justice held that, despite art.345 TFEU proclaiming that the Treaties remain neutral regarding Member States’ property ownership systems, EU internal market provisions impose limits on particular ownership choices made in that respect. This comment conceptualises those limits as building blocks for an EU constitutional playing field in which Member States’ art.345 TFEU choices directly contribute to striking a refined balance between State and market.