Implementation of the Decision and the Framework on SGEIs Involvement of LRAs in the reporting exercise and state of play as regards the assessment of social services as economic activities – Study

Services of General Economic Interest (SGEI) are economic activities that deliver outcomes serving the overall public that would not or not sufficiently be supplied by the market without public intervention. Social services, such as health care and social housing are examples of such activities. The public contribution of SGEI is linked to the overarching EU policy objectives of social and territorial cohesion.

In line with subsidiarity principles, local and regional authorities (LRAs) are typically responsible for providing SGEI. To ensure compliance with the internal market, the European Commission (EC) has outlined the rules within which SGEI may be supported financially by Member States and LRAs to ensure their sufficient provision.

For more clarity and flexibility on the notion of State aid in relation to SGEI, in 2012 the EC adopted the so-called Almunia package. This package encompasses several legal and guidance documents, such as the SGEI Decision, the SGEI Framework and the SGEI Communication. In the following years these documents have been complemented, for instance by the Commission Staff Working Document on the application of the EU rules related to SGEI and the most recent Commission's Notice on the Notion of State aid. Any SGEI that is subject to the SGEI Decision or Framework needs to be reported by Member States every two years. This requires assessing whether the provision of a SGEI is subject to this legislative package. Decisive elements for this assessment are whether it is a market activity and who the provider is. Under certain conditions the compensation for the provision of such services does not constitute State aid.

This report focuses on the involvement of LRAs in the implementation of the SGEI legislative package and in the biennial reporting exercise. Given the complexity of the tasks to implement the legislative package and to report accordingly, this report furthermore illustrates typical problems and challenges encountered and approaches to overcome them.

European Commission: DG Competition: State aid: Services of general economic interest (public services) http://ec.europa.eu/competition/state_aid/overview/public_services_en.html

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