Social Services of General Interest (SSGI)

Table of Contents
Eilmansberger/Herzig
Abbreviations ............................................................................................................... 4
0. Introduction and distinction........................................................................................... 5
I. Analysis of underlying primary law .............................................................................. 7
1. Fundamental freedoms ............................................................................................... 7
1.1. Boundaries between economic and non-economic activities............................ 7
1.1.1. The concept of undertaking................................................................... 7
1.1.2. Sovereign activities (imperium)............................................................ 8
1.1.3. Other non-economic activities .............................................................. 9
1.1.4. Overview of the current state of Community case-law concerning
distinction between economic and non-economic activity.................. 11
1.2. Scope of restrictions and grounds of justification........................................... 15
1.2.1. Discriminatory rules............................................................................ 15
1.2.2. Indistinctly applicable rules ................................................................ 17
1.2.3. Special case: needs test ....................................................................... 18
1.2.4. Justification for overriding reasons relating to the public interest...... 19
1.2.5. Obligation to take a specific legal form favouring non-profitmaking
operators.................................................................................. 21
1.3. Impact of the Services Directive ..................................................................... 22
1.3.1. On the relationship between Directive and primary law..................... 22
1.3.2. Scope of the Directive......................................................................... 23
1.3.3. Substantive content of law .................................................................. 24
2. Competition law ....................................................................................................... 25
2.1. Current situation and problem description...................................................... 25
2.2. Social entities as undertakings within the meaning of competition law ......... 25
2.3. Granting special or exclusive rights to social entities..................................... 27
2.4. Significance of special legislation for SGEIs in primary law ......................... 30
3. Community rules on State aid .................................................................................. 31
3.1. Social entities as beneficiaries of State aid ..................................................... 31
3.2. New versus existing State aid.......................................................................... 32
3.3. De Minimis Regulation ................................................................................... 32
3.4. Cross-border implications ............................................................................... 32
3.5. Services of general interest assessed in terms of State aid considerations...... 33
4. Public procurement rules.......................................................................................... 34
4.1. Social entities as public contracting bodies..................................................... 34
4.1.1. Needs in the general interest, not having an industrial
or commercial character....................................................................... 34
4.1.2. Government influence........................................................................ 35
4.2. Social entities as public contractors ................................................................ 36
4.2.1. Obligation to conduct a public procurement procedure...................... 36
4.2.2. Contracts freely awarded to an in-house entity................................... 37
4.2.3. Reservations favouring non-profit bidders.......................................... 37
5. Comparison of case-law on cross-border implications in competition, internal
market and public procurement rules....................................................................... 39
5.1. General principles ........................................................................................... 39
5.2. Social services: cross-border implications answered in the affirmative ......... 41
5.3. Social services: cross-border implications answered in the negative ............. 43
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