Historical Data

The widespread provision of public services in developed countries began in the late nineteenth century, often with regional development of gas and water services.

Later, other services such as electricity and healthcare began to be provided by governments. In most developed countries such services are still provided by local or national government. Exceptions are the U.S. and the UK, where private provision is more widespread.

Public services are known as ‘Services of General Interest (SGIs)’ and ‘Services of General Economic Interest (SGEIs)’ in European Union terminology.

Services of General Interest (SGIs) could be defined as those provided directly by public authorities, such as compulsory education and security.
Services of General Economic Interest (SGEIs) entail an economic relationship of some sort between supplier and consumer.

Public services are considered to be in the general interest by the public authorities and are subjected to specific public-service obligations:

Non-market services (e.g. compulsory education, social protection)
Obligations of the State (e.g. security and justice)
Services of general economic interest (e.g. energy and communications)

Services of General Interest (SGIs) are recognized in the European Treaties in

The Amsterdam treaty (1997)

Article 16, which was written into the EC Treaty by the Treaty of Amsterdam, acknowledges the place occupied by Services of General Economic Interest (SGEIs) in the shared values of the Union and their role in promoting social and territorial cohesion. Article 16 also states that such services must operate on the basis of principles and conditions which enable them to fulfil their functions.

The Nice treaty (2001)

Further to request by the European Council of Nice, the Commission submitted a report to the Laeken Council in 2001 regarding concerns about the economic viability of public service operators.

Charter of Fundamental Rights

Article 36 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union requires the Union to recognise and respect access to Services of General Economic Interest (SGEIs) to promote the social and territorial cohesion of the Union.

In May 2003, European Commission consultation on services of general interest began. The aim of this consultation was to determine how the European market rules affect these certain public services and whether there was a need to create a new legal framework which would specifically address these services.

Since this consultation, the Commission decided to adopt a sector-by-sector approach. To date, it has published two separate consultations, on health and social services of general interest respectively.

Social Services of General Interest (SSGIs) The Communication on Social Services of General Interest in the European Union (SSGI) sets out to identify the specific characteristics of social services of general interest and seeks to clarify how EU law relates to them. See Europa

Social services of general interest are services such as childcare and social housing, which are designed to ensure that objectives such as high levels of social protection, employment and equality are met.

Social services of general interest are organised differently across the 25 EU Member States and are modernising at different rates in different countries. There are some overall trends in this modernisation however, which include decentralisation, quality assurance, outsourcing and public/private partnerships.

Healthcare Services On 2 July 2008 the European Commission published the long-awaited proposal for a Directive on the provision of cross-border healthcare services. Officially presented as a legislative initiative "for the application of patients’ rights in cross-border healthcare", this proposed Directive is part of the European Commission legislative package for a Renewed Social Agenda.