Putting services of general economic interest up for tender: Reflections on applicable EU rules

Publishers Abstract:
Access to services of general economic interest (SGEI) of good quality and at affordable prices is important for the well-functioning of the European society. For this reason, it goes without saying that the issue of effective regulation of the provision of those services is critically sensitive in the political as well as academic discourse.

Yet, regulating SGEIs has always been a difficult task to undertake for the EU, so much so that the Commission has so far explicitly refrained from using the legal basis in Article 14 TFEU, which provides a competence to adopt legislation relating exclusively to SGEI matters. This regulatory abstention can be explained by the ambiguity of the concept of SGEI in itself. The concept has been for a long time linked to Article 106(2) TFEU (ex 86(2) EC) -- the exemption from the rules of the Treaty for undertakings entrusted with the operation of an SGEI.