公共事业义务与欧共体条约第86条之间的关系
Relationship between Article 86 of ECT and Public Service Obligations
侯利阳 Liyang Hou
【关键词】Public Service Obligations，Article 86 of ECT
【全文】
Public service obligations, which I prefer calling it as obligations of service of general economic interest now, are series of tasks relating to general economic interests assigned by the Member States or authorities to public undertakings or undertakings entrusted with exclusive or special rights. Public service obligations are being paid more attention in European Community level almost because, in my humble mind, in the first hand the Member State can invoke public service obligations to get exceptions according to Article 86(2) ECT by virtue of its benefit to the public in a particular market, insofar as their operation is not contrary to the interests of the Community; in the other hand, the Commission, by itself, can address directives according to the special legislative power provided by Article 86(3).
So I think there are two interested topics in the field of public service obligations with relation to Article 86, which are:
(A) what the conception and scope of public service obligation are according to Article 86(1) and (2) are, as is the extension of public service obligations in the first hand; and
(B) if a task can be regarded as public service obligations how to regulate them appropriately under principles of proportionality, or balancing between the Community interests and the Member State interest with respect to Article 86(3), as is the intension of public service obligations in other hand.
As regards the first one it includes the following sub-topics.
- As regards the form of operating public service obligations, firstly it is important to glimpse the definition of public undertakings and undertaking entrusted with exclusive or special rights at the Community level. Public undertakings are such undertakings which are controlled by public authorities, or even are public authorities themselves or agencies from a perspective of administrative relationship. Compared with comparatively clear concept of public undertakings, the concept of undertakings granted exclusive or special rights is more or less in dispute.
