Opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee on the future of services of general interest - 中欧社会论坛 - China Europa Forum

Opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee on the future of services of general interest

(Own-initiative opinion)

Authors: European Economic and Social Committee

Date: 6 juillet 2006

1.Conclusions

1.1Services of general interest defined as such by the public authorities on the basis of and in reference to social and civic action, meet basic needs and play a key role in promoting social and territorial cohesion in the EU and in the success of the Lisbon Strategy.

1.2In response to the European Council’s call for a period of reflection on the major issues facing Europe, civil society must become a resolute and challenging actor, in order to guarantee efficient services of general interest and to make them an essential component of the Union.

1.3The EESC reiterates its call for the common basic principles to which all SGIs must adhere to be defined at Community level. These should be set out in a framework directive and, if necessary, in individual sector-specific directives.

1.4In accordance with the principle of subsidiarity, each Member State must be able to define, by means of an official instrument to be notified, the types of sovereign service or services of national, regional or local interest not covered by SGEI and to which the rules on competition and State aid do not apply.

1.5Where other services of general interest are concerned, both the framework directive and sectorspecific laws must clearly uphold Member States’ or local authorities’ freedom to define management and funding methods, the principles and limits of Community action, evaluation of their performance, consumers and users’ rights and a basic platform for public service missions and obligations.

1.6To ensure that the measures adopted are acceptable to all those affected by services of general economic and non-economic interest, stakeholders from all levels – national, regional and local authorities, the social partners, consumers’ and environmental protection organisations, social economy bodies and those combating exclusion, etc. – must play their part alongside regulators and operators at national, regional or local level in making services of general interest work and be involved at every stage, in other words in organising, drawing up, monitoring and implementing quality standards.

1.7At European level, wherever sectoral directives governing services of general interest have a social impact on employees’ working conditions and terms and conditions of employment, organisations representing the two sides of industry must be consulted via the new sectoral committees for structured European social dialogue.

1.8The changing nature of services of general interest and their importance in achieving the Lisbon strategy mean that regular evaluation is imperative, not only of the services of general economic interest already covered by Community rules, but also of services of general interest in keeping with the Union’s aims. The EESC proposes that a monitoring centre be set up to evaluate services of economic and non-economic general interest, with a membership consisting of political representatives from the European Parliament and the Committee of the Regions and representatives of organised civil society from the European Economic and Social Committee.

1.9The EESC emphasises that the principles set out above also determine the Union’s stance in trade negotiations, in particular at the WTO and in the GATS process. In the context of international trade negotiations, it would be unacceptable for the European Union to give commitments to liberalise sectors or areas of business that have not been decided in line with internal market rules specifically governing services of general interest. The need to maintain Member States’ power to regulate services of general economic and non-economic interest in order to achieve the social and development aims that the Union has set for itself means that services of general interest must be excluded from the scope of the negotiations referred to above.

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