8 - European Union Law and Granting Limited Rights to Provide Services of General Interest

Summary

This chapter deals with the relationship between EU law and national rules on limited rights. It focusses on services of general interest (SGIs), given that limited rights play an important role in national policies guaranteeing the provision of SGIs. The central question is which discretion the Member States have when granting limited rights in order to ensure access for all to SGIs under EU internal market and competition law. Are the choices they have to make dictated by EU law or may observations of national law play a considerable role? This chapter starts with discussing which SGI fall within the scope of the EU internal market and competition rules. Then, it examines which obligations are imposed by these rules on the Member States. Subsequently, it explores to what extent the Member States may derogate from these obligations. Attention is paid to, for example, the transparency principle.