Certain Aspects of State Aid to Services of General Economic Interest

This paper tackles postal services as one of the most widespread examples of services of general economic interest (SGEI) in order to highlight the specificity of the network industries and their contribution to EU harmonisation in this field. It also tries to position the notion of universal services in relation to the notion of SGEIs. The paper addresses the different views of various Member States on the perception of a public service and stresses the divergences that are inherent in the topic, since different legal cultures, traditions, and social and historic features affect the subject matter. In the absence of sectoral Union rules governing the matter, the Member States have a wide margin of discretion in defining services that could be classified as services of general economic interest. The Commission’s task is to ensure that there is no manifest error with regard to the definition of SGEIs. The paper further analyses the role of the Commission’s soft (law) approach which has ended up in quite a coherent SGEI legal framework, including especially the SGEI package, but also primary law instruments such as Articles 14 and 106 TFEU, Protocol No 26 and the Charter on Fundamental Rights. This paper also presents the applicable rules the Commission has applied in its recent Post Office Decision