1. ETUC welcomes the intention of the Commission to publish a Green Paper on services of general interest in the coming weeks. This Green Paper could represent a good opportunity to have a broad debate on the role of Services of General Interest (SGI) in the future European Union, recognising the contribution of SGI to further develop the European social model in terms of equal opportunities of citizens, social and territorial cohesion as well as the Lisbon sustainability strategy. The discussion of the Green Paper should therefore also fit into the work of the Convention on SGI.

ETUC will return to the issue of the Green Paper in detail and the ETUC industry federations are also preparing their own positions on questions of relevance to their particular sectors.

2. The ETUC and its relevant industry federations have repeatedly stressed the need for a European framework on SGI. In this respect, the ETUC-CEEP Charter on Services of General Interest was drawn up as a protocol to the Treaty of the European Union. However, the aim, which was to have this Charter appended to the Treaty, was regrettably not reached at the Nice Intergovernmental Conference. In the meantime, continued and accelerated liberalisation of certain sectors makes it all the more important that the Commission adopts a coherent approach in its different related initiatives.

3. The crucial role of efficient and high-quality SGI in achieving the objectives and targets of the ‘Lisbon economic and social sustainability strategy’, including the social and territorial cohesion objective, is acknowledged. This perspective, however, is not sufficiently reflected in the Treaties, and the present TEC article 16 provisions on services of general economic interest do not re-balance the situation. It is therefore important to reform the Treaties to make them clear, amongst others, in terms of EU missions.

4. In its submission to the Convention, ETUC has asked for the introduction of the promotion of services of general interest in Draft Article 3 of the Constitutional treaty provisions on the ‘Union’s objectives’:

“to secure and promote, within its competence and in its activities, services of general interest of high quality and based upon the principles of universality, equal access, neutrality of ownership, fair pricing, the quality of work, quality employment, safety and social justice. The Union shall ensure in particular that the aims referred to in this Article are also respected in all its external activities.”

And as a competence and task for common activities:
“measures to secure and promote services of general interest”;


and a chapter on SGI in the future policy treaty (part II of the Constitution):

“(1) Given the place occupied by services of general interest in the shared values of the Union, as well as their role in promoting social and territorial cohesion, the Community and the Member States, each within their respective powers and within the scope of application of this Treaty, shall take care that such services operate on the basis of principles and conditions which enable them to fulfil their missions.
(2) National, regional and local authorities of the Member States must remain free, in accordance with national legislation and practice, to determine the way in which they wish to deliver a service of general interest.
(3) Without prejudice to the exercise of any official authority and non-profit oriented activity, the (EU) competition rules shall apply to the organisation and delivery of services of general interest only to the extent determined sector by sector by the Council and the EP (QMV & co-decision) and taking due account of the principles and objectives of the services of general interest. Concerning state aid, special or exclusive rights granted in connection with the organisation of services of general interest should not be considered as competition-distorting practices, where the amounts awarded to achieve the defined objective are proportionate.”

Again ETUC calls for SGI to be anchored in the Constitutional Treaty in the objectives and activities of the European Union thus providing a solid legal base for secondary legislation. The report of the working group on social Europe contains a very similar approach and was supported by a large number of Convention members. ETUC reiterates the need for the Convention to address the relationship between competition and services of general interest principles in view of proposing the necessary changes in order for the Treaty to meet the requirements of a social market economy.

5. ETUC recalls the joint declaration with CEEP to the Laeken European Council asking the Commission to initiate the elaboration of a proposal for a regulatory framework directive. Assuming a clear legal Treaty base, ETUC believes that a framework directive can further add to ensuring coherence and increasing the certainty of the provision of these quality services, by setting horizontal principles and rules to be applied in all sectors concerned. It can serve to improve the legal clarity regarding treaty competition rules, including clarifying the competencies of public authorities and the SGI categories to be excluded per se from its scope. This would, for instance, relate to education, health, and social services. The development of a framework directive would also enable the Union to support a proactive strategy for the negotiated modernisation of SGI, aimed at improving and developing them on the basis of general principles such as equal access, quality services, fair pricing, universality, quality of work and employment, safety and social justice. Given the crucial importance of SGI for quality of life, employment and social and territorial cohesion, such a framework approach would play an essential role for the realisation of the Lisbon objectives.

6. The current article 295 of the TEC is neutral regarding the public or private ownership of SGI. This is an important principle for the European Commission to respect. Liberalisation should therefore not be used as a tool with which to attack services of general interest, or as a political argument to launch a privatisation campaign. It would also be unacceptable for the Commission to use a concession system to liberalise or privatise public services and enterprises. Above all, replacing a democratic regulated public monopoly with an unregulated private monopoly must be avoided. With due regard to the principle of subsidiarity, democratically legitimised national, regional and local authorities of the Member States must remain free to determine the way in which they wish to deliver SGIs, including a return from private to public ownership of service.

7. ETUC is very concerned that practical preparations are under way to speed up the liberalisation and deregulation of several sectors, such as telecommunications, postal services, energy and transport without a serious pluralistic assessment of the consequences of these processes for service delivery, quality and quantity of jobs, equal access to services and service choice. In contrast to the assertions of Commission DG Competition, it is a fact that liberalisation has led to massive market concentration and job losses. Competitive pressures very often mean that companies reduce investments in maintenance and repair, in training of staff, in research and development. ETUC therefore pleads for a thorough pluralistic impact evaluation of the liberalisation processes to date that should not be confused with the routine measurement of the implementation of the directives. The parameters for the impact evaluation of the effects of liberalisation need to be wider, to also include social, employment and labour market, equality and environmental data with economic ones. The reluctance to present a proposal for a framework directive whilst speeding up the liberalisation process is totally unacceptable. If the Commission is not able to deliver, it would be logical to come to a legislative standstill (moratorium) concerning liberalisation until the Commission is able to deliver a framework proposal.

8. ETUC reiterates its demand for transparent and democratic regulatory and monitoring structures mandated by public authorities to effectively control the impact of liberalisation of SGI. Such a process should involve workers and their trade unions as well as citizens groups. The ETUC-CEEP proposal for a European observatory on SGI should be taken up as part of this.