2011

The European Commission has approved tax relief of €764 million granted by France to the French post office (La Poste) for the purpose of maintaining a high density of postal services over the period 2008-2012. It also authorised compensation of €1.2 billion for the costs incurred by La Poste in carrying out its task of transporting and delivering the press over the same period. The Commission concluded that the two aid measures were compatible with EU state-aid rules because they only partially offset the net costs of the important public service tasks incumbent on La Poste and so did not give it any unfair competitive advantage.

The Europen Commission, on 16th September 2011, presented a package of proposals for the revision of texts relating to the application of rules on State aid awarded to services of general economic interest, dated 25 November 2005 (or the "Altmark package") and which expires in November 2011

The reform of state aid rules for services of general economic interest (SGEIs), expected to enter into force at the end of this year, has once again failed to win support. Following on from the representatives of regions (see Europolitics 4285), members of the European Parliament's Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs (ECON) urged Competition Commissioner Joaquin Almunia to go back to the drawing board. They adopted (by 27 to eight, with one abstention) an own-initiative report by Peter Simon (S&D, Germany) on this reform, which singles out certain "grey areas".

The Almunia package contains four elements (a decision for exemption from notification, a specific de minimis regulation and two communications). It modifies the Altmark package adopted in 2005 following the Court of Justice ruling on compensation for public services (Almark judgement C-280/00).

On 5th July 2011, the European Parliamen adopted, by an overwheming majority, the resolution presented by Proinsias de Rossa (S&D, Ireland) on the future of social services of general interest (P7_TA(2011)0319).

Michel Barnier announced, on 22 June, that the legislative initiative in favour of access to basic financial services was being dropped for now. The commissioner with responsibility for the internal market and services was taking part in a conference in Brussels on financial services, sponsored by consumer associations. In the light of negative (non-public) impact assessments, the College of Commissioners decided to make do with a simple recommendation to the member states in July.
It will focus on access to a basic account (not to credit), its costs and the availability of a payment card, which will not allow overdrafts. The executive promises to review its position if the member states fail to implement the recommendations within one year. This was confirmed the same day by a member of his staff, Philippe Pellé, at the EP Public Services Intergroup.

The European Commission is preparing to change the rules on state aid for services of general economic interest (SGEI). Their implementation has been positive on the whole but certain clarifications are needed, finds the executive. It adopted a communication on the revision of these rules and a report on their application, on 23 March.

The three texts reviewed - which make up what is known as the Monti-Kroes package' - were adopted in 2005 in the wake of a 2003 EU Court of Justice ruling (Altmark C-280/00), which determined that compensation for SGEI constitutes state aid subject to the Commission's control, unless it meets four conditions (see box). They aim to spell out the conditions in which compensation granted to an enterprise that provides a public service is compatible without prior notification to the Commission and those in which compensation not covered by the decision may nevertheless be authorised.

Commissioner Joaquin Almunia has unveiled the EU executive's approach to the revision of rules on state aid for services of general economic interest (SGEI). He intends to "clarify, simplify and diversify" these rules, he declared at a conference at the European Policy Centre, on 2 May.

The current framework for SGEI, the Monti-Kroes package in force since 2005, defines the conditions for the compatibility of compensation granted to an undertaking charged with providing a public service. It expires in November 2011. The consultation launched in 2010 brought to light the need for clearer, simpler and more proportionate measures. The commissioner noted that "public services lie at the core of my vision of Europe's social market economy" and that the aim of the reform is to enhance the contribution of such services to economic recovery in the EU. However, the concept of SGEI is the reflection of very different institutional and cultural traditions in the EU and the Court of Justice has had to determine whether or not a given service qualifies as an SGEI. It has issued rulings, for example, that the Spanish health system is not an economic activity but that the Belgian hospital system is.