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The third volume in the series Legal Issues of Services of General Interest, this book examines and analyzes a set of research questions on the most recent developments in the emergence of services of general interest as a distinct European Union concept.

This book explores the consequences of the impact of the EU rules for the internal market, including the proposed Directive on patients' rights, competition on national health care systems, and related areas.

The third volume in the series Legal Issues of Services of General Interest, this book examines and analyzes a set of research questions on the most recent developments in the emergence of services of general interest as a distinct European Union concept.

The EU Services Directive is difficult to achieve without also affecting issues of national social policy, closely related to the welfare state. The EU Services Directive's characteristics have raised numerous legal questions essential for its full understanding and implementation. It has become a "e;moving target"e; for the national administrations. In this book important issues are covered: is the EU Services Directive to be interpreted as law or simply policy and what are its actual effects on the regulatory autonomy of the Member States? Does it represent a new and innovative instrument which facilitates prosperous integration within the EU or, has the EU legislator gone beyond its regulatory competence? This book helps to understand the EU Services Directive and its effects on the regulatory autonomy of the Member States of the European Union in a broader perspective. It is valuable for academics, practitioners and officials both nationally as well within the EU institutions.

This book provides a comprehensive examination of the interaction between Services of General Economic Interest (SGEI) and EU competition law, covering in particular Article 106 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) and state aid rules. It also takes the telecommunications, postal service and transport sectors as case studies, taking into account the technological, economic and political backgrounds to these sectors.The area of SGEI has undergone fundamental developments over the past three decades and the most recent changes in the Lisbon Treaty, recognizing SGEI as a shared value and granting explicit competence to the EU, mark its constitutional significance. The key issue is how to balance economic values underlying competitive markets and non-economic public service values such as universal access to essential services. The essence of the question is the relationship between the market and the state. This controversial issue is addressed through a critical analysis of a number of landmark EU Court judgments and Commission decisions over the decades.Offering a clear appreciation of the evolution of the EU regulatory framework on SGEI that lays out the limits and boundaries within which the Member States define, organize and fund SGEI, the book is particularly aimed at academics with a research interest in the interaction between public services and EU competition law, but as it also demonstrates clearly how the application of EU competition law has transformed the public utilities sectors, it will be of interest to law makers, legal professionals and policy makers as well.Dr. Lei Zhu is a Research Associate at the Institute of International Law at Wuhan University in Wuhan, China. He studied at the Institute for Competition & Procurement Studies of the Bangor University Law School in Wales, United Kingdom, where he obtained his PhD in law in 2015.