Guidance

State aid: public services of general economic interest

Provides guidance on how the state aid rules effect funding for the delivery of public services of general economic interest.

From:
Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy
Published
23 October 2009

This publication was withdrawn on

The Brexit transition period has ended and new rules on subsidy control now apply.

For current information read: Complying with the UK’s international obligations on subsidy control

EU State aid rules only apply in certain limited circumstances:

Documents

[Withdrawn] How the state aid rules impact upon funding for the delivery of public services including services of general economic interest (SGEI): guidance notes

Ref: BIS/09/1435

PDF, 673 KB, 18 pages

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Details

The UK and EU have agreed to terms on a Comprehensive Free Trade Agreement, which came into force on 1 January 2021. This agreement contains provisions related to subsidy control.

Provides guidance on how the state aid rules effect funding for the delivery of public services of general economic interest.

A service of general economic interest (SGEI) is a service of an economic nature that public authorities identify as being of particular importance to citizens. They are not supplied by market forces alone, and may need public intervention.

The competition provisions of the EEC Treaty has no policy on whether members states should contract-out their public services or provide them in-house, nor on how they should be funded. Member states can monopolise some service delivery through state provision. Where there is a competitive market for services, the Treaty insists that governments can’t distort that market with subsidies unless such subsidies have approval from the European Commission.

Published 23 October 2009