What are Services of General Interest?

At a European level, the services that are identified as ‘Services of General Interest’ are:

There is often a discussion about why these services are considered to be ‘Services of General Interest’ when other services such as Education and Health are not included in this list.

These services are often referred to as ‘Social Participation Services’. These are services that are provided directly to individuals and play a preventive and socially cohesive role. These can include services that provide:

social assistance
employment and training opportunities
social housing
child care or long-term care services.

These services play a vital role in our society and provide an important contribution to the fulfilment of basic EU objectives such as social, economic and community cohesion, a high level of employment, social inclusion and economic growth.